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THE BATTALION STANDARDS 
AND GUIDONS 



THE 

FIRST BATTALION 

THE STORY OF 

THE 406'.!- TELEGRAPH BATTALION 

SIGNAL CORPS, U. S. ARMY 

By 

PETER LAMBERT SCHAUBLE 




PHILADELPHIA 

i 92 i 






THANKS is hereby extended to the following members 
of the Battalion for their assistance in the preparation 
of this book: 

Major Thomas H. Griest who gathered much of the data, 
including personal accounts, pictures atui maps and pre- 
pared a comprehensive chronology upon which the text of 
this story is based. 

Lieutenant Colonel James W. Hubbell who prepared a 
series of memoranda on the Battalion. 

Lieutenant William W. Brittain who assisted with certain 
engineering details. 

Master Signal Electrician Henry B. Cowan who laid out 
the maps. 

First Sergeants Martin H. Buehler, 2nd, and David M. 
Hackett, 2ND, who checked the Company "D" and Com- 
pany "E" records respectively. 

P. L. S. 



COPYRIGHT I92I 
THE BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY OF PENNSYLVANIA 



Redfield-Kendrick-Odell Company, Inc. 
New York 



g)C!.A624609 



FOREWORD 

THE 406th Telegraph Battalion, Signal Corps, U.S. Army, which 
went to France as the First Telegraph Battalion, U.S. Signal 
Reserve Corps, saw continuous service throughout the entire 
American participation in the World War. It was organized during 
the very month when war was declared. Four months later it was in 
France — going over on one of the earliest convoys. To realize what 
this means it must be understood that the Battalion was recruited 
from telephone employees — not military men. To land a body of 
men on foreign soil four months after they received their first military 
training is an accomplishment of which every one associated with the 
organization may well be proud. 

From that time until the Armistice there was no let up in its activites. 
The silver bands on the Battalion Standard tell the story. They were 
awarded by the War Department and are engraved with the following 
inscriptions: 



ist Telegraph Battalion 
U. S. Signal Reserve Corps 



Toul Sector, France 
28, February to 21, March, 1918 



Chateau-Thierry Sector, France 
23, June to 14, July, 1918 



Champagne-Marne Defensive, France 
July 15 to July 18, 1018 



FOREWORD 



Aisne-Marne Offensive, France 
July 18 to August 6, 1918 



Toul Sector, France 
20, August to 11, September, 1918 



St. Mihiel Offensive, France 
September 12 to September 16, 191? 



Verdun Sector, France 
20, to 25 September, 1918 



Meuse, Argonne Offensive, France 
September 26 to November 11, 191S 



The 406th has passed into history. It made a wonderful record. 
It is only proper and fitting that its accomplishments should be set down 
in permanent form. If these pages will, in the future, assist in recalling 
memories of its participation in the greatest war the world has ever seen, 
they will have fulfilled their purpose. 



371 



CONTENTS 



Foreword 



Chapter I — From "Civies" to Khaki n 

Plans for Signal Reserve Corps. War Department turns to Bell System. 
The Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania first to start the work. 
Selection of Officers. The organization of the two Companies. Taking the 
Oath. Designation as First Telegraph Battalion, Signal Reserve Corps. 
A Battalion of "First's." 

Chapter II — Soldiers in the Making 18 

Drill begins. Difficulties in securing uniforms and equipment. Preparing 
requisition for the War Department. Lieutenants Repp and Glaspey and 
Sergeant Quinby accompany General Pershing to Europe. Outdoor drill. 
Final preparations for departure for camp. 

Chapter III — They're Off 24 

Farewells. The two Companies meet in Philadelphia. Breakfast at Union 
League. Mr. Kinnard presents standards and addresses the Battalion. 
Leaving Philadelphia. 

Chapter IV — Monmouth Park 29 

The arrival at Monmouth Park. Briers and poison ivy. Inoculations and 
vaccinations. Intensive training. Construction problems. "Smoke "and 
"Bruce." Visits from Telephone officials. Final physical examinations. 
Theodore N. Vail calls to say goodbye. Additions to the Battalion. Off 
for "an Atlantic Port." On the "Antilles." 

Chapter V — Dodging Submarines 45 

Down the river. At Gravesend Bay. Out to sea under cover of darkness. 
In the submarine zone. Safe in France. 

Chapter VI — "So This Is France" 50 

The landing at St. Nazaire. At base camp No. 1. A detail leaves for 
Chaumont, soon to be General Pershing's Headquarters. An outing at La 
Baule. Moving to Chaumont. A detail remains at St. Nazaire to assemble 
motor trucks and drive them to Chaumont. 

Chapter VII — At General Headquarters 58 

Equipping General Headquarters with telephone and lighting plants. 
Dedication of General Headquarters. Preliminaries for the construction of 
the Chaumont-Neufchateau line. The line is started under difficulties — 
lack of tools and equipment. Supply Officer Meigs rents a blacksmith shop 
and hires a harness maker. "Cheddite." Company "D" moves to Liffol 
le Grande to facilitate work on the Neuf chateau line. Part of Company 
"E" moves to Rimacourt. Completion of the line September 27 th. 

Chapter VIII — Hard Work and Some Diversion 70 

Repp and Glaspey become Captains and permanently detached. A wager 
with the Second Battalion. Company "E" builds south from Chaumont. 
Company "D" wiring training areas and made responsible for Divisional 



CONTENTS 



Areas. Equipping Bourmont forthe Second Division. Partof Company "E" 
moves to Luzy to speed the line south. Battalion officers attend reception 
in General Pershing's chateau in honor of his promotion to the rank of 
General. A captured Zeppelin. Battalion Headquarters and Company "E" 
move to Marnay. Company "D" at Neufchateau. Hallowe'en party. 

Chapter IX — Thanksgiving 82 

A direct line from Langres to Neufchateau. Major Hubbell and Captain 
Gauss transferred to General Headquarters. Captain Wattles in command 
of the Battalion. The Bourmont detail moves to Vaucouleurs to equip the 
area forthe Forty-second Division. A line from Vaucouleurs to Chaumont. 
Additional Chaumont-Neufchateau circuits. Thanksgiving. Supply Offi- 
cer Meigs secures some tires. "Hardtack" is enrolled in Company "E." 

Chapter X — Lost — A Perfectly Good Name 90 

The "First" Battalion becomes the "406th." More equipment for General 
Headquarters. Switchboard operating. Transportation Department and 
Roosevelt Hospital are equipped. An artillery training school at Fort de 
Pagny. The 406th made responsible for Headquarters of Divisions and 
all lines north of Langres. The Chaumont line in trouble. Work on the 
Neufchateau-Langres Line. 

Chapter XI — The First Christmas 96 

Preparations for Christmas celebration — started back home . Company " E " 
celebrates at Mamay. Company "D" at Neufchateau. 

Chapter XII — Nearing the Battle Line 101 

Major Kelly becomes Signal Officer at Neufchateau. Company "D" con- 
nects the First Division at Menil la Tour with the American lines. The 
Meuse overflows its banks. Cooties. A break at St. Blin. Mobilizing 
the 406th for forward work. Death of Hollowell. Major Hubbell returns 
to command the Battalion. 

Chapter XIII — With the First Army Corps in 

Creation of the FirstArmyCorps. 406th becomes First Corps Telegraph Bat- 
talion. Company "E" builds a line to Void. Company "D" reports to the 
First Division. The A. E. F. celebrates Washington's Birthday. Company 
"D" goes to Boucq. Building lines to the Front. "Repp" construction. 

Chapter XIV — One Thing After Another 120 

"Corporal Leon." Company "E" builds a new line from Neufchateau to 
Vaucouleurs, thence to Void. Equipping the Air Service Headquarters at 
Toul. Hannam tells of operating experiences. An operators' school. A 
line from Neufchateau to Colombey. Company "D" at Harmonville. 

Chapter XV — Adventures in No Man's Land 127 

The Radio Intelligence Service. Listening Posts. Maintaining the wires 
in No Man's Land. Some interesting experiences. Peterson's story. 
Custer tells of a trip after batteries. Leasure takes a chance. Gallo tells 
of a German raid. 

Chapter XVI — "Where Do We Go From Here?" 138 

Versatility and tact. Circuits leased from the French. An Air Corps at 
Ourches. A test station at Vaucouleurs. Maintaining the leased circuits. 



CONTENTS 



Pole yards. Battalion review at Neiif chateau. The end of "Smoke." 
" D" goes to Neuf chateau. Preparations for a quick move. The practice 
move. "E" cares for British Bombing Squadrons. Memorial Day. 
The "flu." Assistance from the 319th and 322nd Field Battalions. 
Leaving Neufchateau. 

Chapter XVII — On the Marne 152 

La Ferte-sous-Jouarre. The new Headquarters. Company "E" installs 
telephone equipment. Company " D " arrives a week later, and takes care 
of rear areas. Dark days. Preparations for retreat. First Corps takes 
over the Marne sector. Battalion takes over exchanges. Dickson at 
Montreuil. Transporting troops and ammunition. Air activities. 
Captain Wattles leaves. Preparations for the offensive completed. 

Chapter XVIII — The First American Offensive 164 

The attack begins. Lieutenant Price with the 26th Division. Activities 
around Montreuil. Picardie Farm. Epaux Bezu and Buire. Operating 
difficulties. A new line to Picardie Farm. Trugny. Corps Headquarters 
at Epieds. Chateau Moucheton. A line to Chateau Thierry. Mess 
difficulties. 

Chapter XIX — On to the Vesle 178 

The advance continues. A line to Fresnes. Company " D" moves up the 
line. Connecting Fere-en-Tardenois. A bad night. Midnight patrols. 
At Villeneuve-sur-Fere. Relieved by the Third Army Corps. A rest at 
La Ferte. Meigs and some spies. 

Chapter XX — St. Mihiel 187 

Off for new fields under sealed orders. Through Chaumont to Neuf- 
chateau. Resting at Toul. Corps Headquarters at Saizerais. The anni- 
versary of the arrival in France. Air raids at Liverdun. Major Hubbell 
returns to United States. Captain Griest in charge. Preparing for the 
offensive. Battalion moves to Liverdun. Daniels and his Boche shirt. 
Survey parties. Taking over the forward exchanges. The "big show" 
starts September 12th. Rapid advance across the sector. Off to the 
Argonne. 

Chapter XXI — The Argonne 202 

Moving under strict orders. Arrival at Rarecourt. Equipping Corps 
Headquarters. Telegraph operating. Taking over the telephone ex- 
changes. The "high line." The offensive starts September 26th. The 
"high line" is pushed ahead. An advance "P. C." (Post of Command) at 
Cotes-de-Forimont — "Bonehead." Battalion Headquarters moves to 
Locheres. Captain Griest becomes Major. 

Chapter XXII — "Bonehead" 215 

Switchboard operation. Life at "Bonehead." "Chubby " Johnson is lost. 
Signal lines for the railroads in the recaptured territory. Lieutenant 
Meigs meets the Colonel. Ready to extend the high line. Work resumed. 
Advance P. C. moved to Chehery. Construction north of Marcq. 

Chapter XXIII — "Kamerad!" 228 

The offensive renewed November 2nd. Grandpre. The soda water 
factory. Rushing the line to St. Juvin. Corps Headquarters at Harri- 



io CONTENTS 



court. The Battalion moves to Harricourt. Excitement on the road. 
Piecing out Boche circuits. The Germans on the run. Building lines 
toward Sedan. Death of Major Glaspey. 

Chapter XXIV — The Armistice 236 

Rumors of Armistice. The First Army Corps relieved. The Battalion 
moves south to Pleinchamp Farm. More rumors of Armistice. Fireworks 
in the billets. Confirmation November nth. 

Chapter XXV— "When Do We Go Home?" 241 

At Chehery. Salvaging wire. The Battalion moves to Tonnerre. Thanks- 
giving. Entertainment and athletic programs. Pemberton and Dailey 
secure cement and bricks for a cookstove. Football games. Basketball. 
Leaves at Aix-lcs-Bains. The Riviera — Monte Carlo — and Paris. Christ- 
mas and New Year celebrations. Turning in equipment. The horse and 
motor shows. The 406th gets the Blue Ribbons — and the Grand Prize. 

Chapter XXVI — Homeward Bound 252 

Transferred from the First to Fifth Corps. Preparing to leave Tonnerre. 
The Army show at Bar-sur-Aube. Capture 3 Blue Ribbons and the Grand 
Prize. Inspections at Courcelles. Arrival at Brest. Final inspection 
March 2Sth. Major Griest returns to the United States. Delousing. 
Captain Meigs in command. Boarding the "Seattle" April 8th. 

Chapter XXVII — From Khaki to "Civies" , . 261 

Easter. The arrival at New York. At Camp Upton. More inspections. 
Moving to Camp Dix. Still more inspections. The reception in Phila- 
delphia April 25th. The final review on the Parkway. Standards and 
Guidons are returned to Mr. Kinnard. The Dinner at Scottish Rite Hall. 
Mustered out. The Pittsburgh party — a parade and banquet May 3rd. 
The Harrisburg dinner, May 9th. Back on the job. 

Appendix 279 



MAPS 

The Trip Across France 56 

The Territory Around Chaumont and Toul 73 

From the Marne to the Vesle 165 

St. Mihiel, Saizerais and Surrounding Territory 190 

The Argonne 210 



Note — The First Telegraph Battalion was recruited from The Bell Telephone Company of 
Pennsylvania and its Associated Companies, The Delaware and Atlantic Telegraph and Telephone 
Company and The Diamond State Telephone Company. Whenever in these pages, therefore, The 
Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania is mentioned, it should be understood to include the 
Associated Companies. 

In similar manner, when the Battalion is referred to as the Pennsylvania Battalion, it is to be 
understood that some of its members were from Southern New Jersey (the territory of The Delaware 
and Atlantic Company ) and some were from Delaware (the territory of The Diamond State Company). 




Chapter I 



From "Civies" to Khaki 



IT WAS the month of July, 191 8. The enemy had penetrated to the Marne. 
Each day brought increasing evidence of a further rush by the Germans. 
On the night of the fourteenth the enemy artillery became extremely 
active. Shells began to drop like hail on the hill back of the Battalion. What 
were the orders to be? Was there to be further retreat — or was the First 
Corps, to which these Bell boys were attached, finally to be given a chance to 
join in a test of strength with the oncoming Germans? 

Schedules had been prepared for either eventuality. In case of retreat, 
"E" Company was to salvage everything possible and destroy all materials 
left. "D" Company was to hurry to a new location and establish communica- 
tion for the Corps. Should orders be for resistance and counter-attack, the 
men in the exchanges were to refuse all telephone service to those not on a 
preferred list. Every human effort was to be put forth to keep every line 
working. 

The cannonading continued during the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth. 
Major Hubbell, commanding the Battalion, received word on the seventeenth 
that the Corps was to attack on "J" day, "H" hour. At 10 o'clock that night 
it was learned that "J" meant the eighteenth, and "H" 4:25 a.m. Imme- 
diately the prearranged program went into effect. 

Shells continued to drop all around. At 1 1 :30 p.m. all communication 
to the 26th Division suddenly ceased. This meant a break. Two of the men 
followed the line and five hundred feet away fell into a shell hole. The burst- 
ing shell had ripped the wire to pieces. Quick repairs were made. Hardly 



I- THE FIRST BATTALION 

had these men returned to the dugout when all lines to the rear went out of 
service. A "gang" immediately started back and found the line almost com- 
pletely razed by shell fire. Amid the roar of guns and the constantly explod- 
ing shells, they continued making repair after repair. Time and again, after 
a break was fixed, another explosion made it necessary to do the work over. 
Not until the following night did the men get back to the Battalion. 

It was the beginning of the end. All the work of stringing wires, setting 
poles, placing switchboards, much of the time under fire, had been prepara- 
tory to this great day, which, though little realized at the time, was the 
high- water mark of German success. 

That eighteenth of July marked the culmination of an effort which was 
begun early in 1917, before our country entered the war. The great im- 
portance of the Signal Corps' work had been demonstrated in the European 
struggle and Congressional action had provided for the organization of a 
Signal Reserve. Because our country had not then declared war, provision 
was made merely for the Reserves to spend fifteen days each summer in a 
training camp. The intention was to prevent the mistake, made in Europe, 
of allowing technical men to enter the combat forces and thus become lost to 
their country so far as their specialized technical abilities were concerned. 

It was but natural for the War Department, in organizing a Signal Reserve 
Corps, to turn to the Bell System. This was the largest organization in the 
world doing a communication business. It had always been in the forefront 
in the development and improvement of means of communication. It had a 
personnel of technical men who could be drawn upon to form the nucleus of the 
new organization. The War Department, with the officials of the American 
Telephone and Telegraph Company, soon developed plans by which several 
Reserve Signal Battalions were to be organized from the employees of the 
various Associated Bell Companies. John J. Carty, Chief Engineer of the 
Bell System, later Vice-President, was appointed a Major and promoted 
to Colonel in the Signal Reserve Corps. His technical ability and thor- 
ough cooperation were to a large extent responsible for the success of the 
movement. 

Through the interest and enthusiasm of its Vice-President and General 
Manager, L. H. Kinnard, who later became its President, The Bell Telephone 
Company of Pennsylvania was the first company to start the work and, with 
the help of Lieutenant Colonel Charles McK. Saltzman (later Brigadier- 
General) from Washington, and Captain W. S. Grant (later Colonel on the 
General Staff) of the Signal Office at New York, plans were made for recruit- 
ing one battalion in Pennsylvania. 

It was decided that of the two Companies one was to be organized in eastern 
and central Pennsylvania, comprising the Philadelphia and Harrisburg Divi- 
sions of the Bell Company. This became Company "D." The other, which 



FROM "CIVIES" TO KHAKI 



13 



became Company "E," was to 
be drawn from the Pittsburgh 
Division, embracing western 
Pennsylvania. 

As the entire Battalion was 
to be recruited from the Bell 
ranks, the first step necessary 
was the selection of its officers. 
Consideration was given to 
those men who had had mili- 
tary training, but term of 
service and experience in the 
telephone business were con- 
sidered as being of greatest 
importance. Almost without 
exception, those who were 
recommended for commissions 
had completed over twelve 
years with the telephone or- 
ganization. After the required 
physical and mental examina- 
tions, nine men were selected 
and recommended to the War 
Department as having the 
qualifications required of offi- 
cers. They were commissioned 

in the Spring of 1917. Then came the first step in the detail organi- 
zation of the two Companies. Circulars were prepared and sent to all 
of the Telephone Company's male employees. This was just before our 
country entered the struggle and but little was known of what the actual 
work of the Telegraph Battalion was to be, though in those dark- 
days it was realized that our country could not remain out of the conflict 
much longer. Of the six thousand male employees in the Company, many 
of whom were beyond the military age, fourteen hundred or more than 
twenty per cent applied. This was nearly seven times as many as could 
be selected. 

War was declared before the applications were received, and it became 
known rather definitely that those who were selected would have some work 
more serious than the "fifteen days in a training camp each summer." The 
applications were quickly classified, and soon a number of men had been tenta- 
tively selected for further examination. These men, about five hundred, were 
all personally interviewed, the fact that war had been declared put squarely 




Leonard H. Kinnard 




At Philadelphia 




At Harrisburg 
TAKING THE OATH 



14 



FROM "CITIES" TO KHAKI 



r 5 



before them to make sure that, should they be selected, each would eagerly 
serve his country to the best of his ability whenever and wherever called upon. 
Throughout these interviews there was almost a tendency to discourage the 
applicant — so anxious were the officers to have none but the keenest and most 
enthusiastic men in the Battalion. Finally, those who had been interviewed 
and had established their determination to enter the Battalion if possible, 
were given a preliminary physical examination. Thus, when recruiting papers 
were forwarded to New York, it was with the knowledge that a reliable and 
physically capable group of men had been selected for this first unit. In 
these preliminary physical examinations Dr. Macfarlan, who later became 
the Battalion Medical Officer, spent many strenuous days. 

So far, none but the officers had definitely obligated themselves to the 
Government. True, the applicants had all agreed to many provisions, but 
everything that is done before one finally takes the Oath seems distinctly 
informal. "Taking the Oath" is the last step in turning one's self over to the 
will of the Military Authorities. Company "D's" Harrisburg detachment 
lined up on April twentieth, the remainder of "D" Company, at Philadelphia, 
on the twenty-first, and Company "E," in Pittsburgh, on the twenty-fifth, and 
the New Castle detachment on the twenty-sixth. These were solemn occa- 
sions, and all hands were stretched 
high in an effort to demonstrate 
their zeal and earnestness as the 
men replied, "I do." Few could 
have then believed that, in little 
over a month, three of these men 
would be with General Pershing 
■ — enroute to France; and that in 
four short months this entire group 
of raw recruits would be whipped 
into shape as splendid soldiers, 
landed in France, and sharing in 
the uphill fight which on that 
eighteenth day of July had reached 
its crest. 

On May twenty-second, 191 7, 
the War Department issued Spe- 
cial Order 131, designating this 
unit as the First Telegraph Bat- 
talion, Signal Reserve Corps. That 
this unit of the several Battalions 
organized from the Associated Bell 
Companies became the "First" Colonel John J. Carty 





16 



FROM "CIVIES" TO KHJKI 17 

speaks volumes for the interest of the officials and personnel of The Bell 
Telephone Company of Pennsylvania. 

And it was not only the first Reserve unit to be organized. It was the 
first Reserve unit to be ordered overseas; the first complete Signal unit to 
arrive in France; the first technical unit to be attached to General Head- 
quarters, American Expeditionary Forces; and, when the First American 
Army Corps was formed, it was again the first technical unit designated as a 
part of the Corps. 

Mr. Kinnard called it "the Battalion of hand picked men." From the 
method of selection, the reader may judge as to the propriety of the term! 
The Battalion consisted of ten officers and some two hundred and fifteen 
enlisted men. As further evidence of the quality of its personnel, it should be 
noted that from these two hundred and twenty-five men there developed, prior 
to the close of the war, two lieutenant colonels, five majors, three captains, 
eight first lieutenants, nine second lieutenants, and more than a score of non- 
commissioned officers. 




Chapter II 



So/diers in the Maki?i? 



AS SOON as the officers were selected, correspondence courses in infantry 
1J\ drill regulations were started, with weekly assignments and subsequent 
JL JL examinations. When the noncommissioned officers had been chosen, 
classes were organized and drills held on two evenings each week. By the 
end of April the Companies were organized and drills were held every Saturday 
afternoon in halls rented for the purpose. 

Although by this time war had been declared, the Battalion was still sub- 
ject to the Act of Congress which provided merely that the members were to 
attend camp for fifteen days each summer, and that at this camp they would 
be organized into companies ; no uniforms or other equipment were to be fur- 
nished the men until they arrived at camp. But a state of war now existed 
which made it necessary that the Signal Reserve Battalions be definitely 
organized and fitted out. It was this situation that faced Lieutenant Fielding 
P. Meigs, Supply Officer, who demonstrated now for the first time that when 
it was necessary for his Battalion to have something, nothing could prevent him 
from obtaining what was needed. In this case there were no regulations under 
which it was possible to obtain any equipment for the men before they were 
called into active service. Equipment, especially uniforms, was necessary at 
once. Lieutenant Meigs, with the help of Lieutenant Decker, a man with 
years of experience in dealing with Signal Corps property, finally succeeded 
in obtaining all of the clothing required. As a matter of fact, the Battalion 
was so well uniformed as to draw comment from the Regular Army Officers 
when it was mobilized at Monmouth Park. The Supply Officer later had many 
similar opportunities to display his ability in securing supplies. He kept the 
Battalion better equipped with motor vehicles than any similar unit in France; 

18 



SOLDIERS IN THE MAKING 



!9 



commandeered French shops in order to provide tools for the construction of 
telephone lines; and kept not only his organization supplied with provisions 
and materials but also, on occasions, other units supplied with signal equip- 
ment. 

It was not long before the Saturday afternoon drills began to show results. 
As the raw recruits became well drilled soldiers, the subject for discussion was, 
naturally, the work which the Battalion might be called upon to do. The 
commanding officer of the organization was Major James W. Hubbell, who had 
had fifteen years' experience with the Telephone Company, eleven years with 
the New York National Guard, during three years of which he was a commis- 
sioned officer, and two years with the Pennsylvania Cavalry. During the 
period of weekly drills the Major made frequent trips to New York to learn all 
that he could which would enable him to keep his Battalion ahead of the game. 

On May twenty-second he was called to Washington. Colonel Russell 
had been appointed Chief Signal Officer of the American Expeditionary 
Forces, and expected in a few days to accompany General Pershing to France. 
He desired a great amount of information concerning the apparatus and tools 
required for the construction of various hypothetical lines in France and 
wanted it immediately. Major Hubbell gathered all the data available and 




Co. "D's" Detachment at Museum Field, Philadelphia 




20 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



21 




Harrisburg Detachment Drilling on the "Island' 



returned to Philadelphia, where for two days and a night the Engineering 
Department of The Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania worked unceas- 
ingly on the preparation of a general requisition to cover the material. On the 
twenty-fourth the Major took the requisition to Washington. The papers 
called for an expenditure so far in excess of any amount of which the Signal 
Corps had ever dreamed, that it could not be approved without investigation. 
A cable inquiry brought information from Paris that the French systems could 
readily furnish "all of the communication facilities required." This caused 
the requisition to be considerably cut down, with the result that after the 
Battalion landed in France, Supply Officer Meigs was given many sleepless 
nights and hard days' work getting together the tools and equipment neces- 
sary for stringing the lines of communication. 

It was while at Washington that Major Hubbell learned that his Battalion 
was likely to land in France much earlier than any of its members then ex- 
pected. He suggested that if it were so, it might be well to have certain 
representatives precede the main body so that the preliminary survey work 
might be completed in advance, and that actual construction work might 
start immediately upon the arrival of the Battalion. The number of persons 
to accompany the first convoy had been rigidly limited by General Pershing, 
but on May twenty-fifth permission was secured to allow Lieutenants Repp 
and Glaspey, and Battalion Supply Sergeant Quinby who spoke French 
fluently, to accompany the expedition. That this was a wise selection may be 
attested from the fact that at the signing of the Armistice, Repp was a Lieu- 



THE FIRST B ATT J LION 



tenant-Colonel and had 
been appointed Chief Sig- 
nal Officer of the Advance 
Section, Services of Sup- 
ply; that at the time 
of his most unfortunate 
death at Toul, on Novem- 
ber fifth, 1918, Glaspey 
was a Major; and that 
Quinby, having acted as 
interpreter for General 
Pershing's staff, was later 
commissioned as First 
Lieutenant and assigned 
to the Intelligence Sec- 
tion of the General Staff. 
Late in May the need for outdoor drill was sensed, and the Pittsburgh 
company secured the use of the large field at the Pittsburgh Exposition grounds, 
where Lieutenant Suddath put the men through their paces; the Harrisburg 
section used the "Island," and the Philadelphia section used Museum Field 
at the University of Pennsylvania. These week-end drills became centers of 
interest for many telephone officials. Captain "Joe" Francis, Engineer of 
Appraisals and a former Guardsman, helped to instruct the rookies, and his 
patience and painstaking efforts contributed greatly to the marvelous progress 
made at Museum Field. In an effort to take advantage of the most valuable 
training possible, certain 




"Rookies" at Museum Field, Philadelphia 



of the more experienced 
instrument men were 
placed in various test 
rooms of the Long Dis- 
tance Company, so they 
might gain practice in 
handling a great variety 
of equipment; men who 
were familiar with tele- 
graph codes were taken 
into the Western Union 
Telegraph Company op- 
erating rooms, where they 
were given intensive train- 
ing; Farrington, Dailey, 
Smithoover and Davis 




mzm 



Capt. "Joe" Francis Gives a Lesson 



SOLDIERS IN THE MAKING 



were dispatched to 
the School for 
Army Cooks at 
Fort Wood; truck 
drivers were 
"farmed out" to 
various truck re- 
pair stations; and 
clerical men were 
relieved from their 
office duties and 
put out on the 
lines with con- 
struction gangs. 

During the sec- 
ond week in June, 

information was received that the Battalion might soon be called into service, 
and the work of preparation became more feverish. All were excused from 
further telephone duty and taken out into the country for daily hikes and drills. 

Each man was urged to make a will, and aid was also given to each in 
arranging his business affairs, as no one could foresee where this great adven- 
ture might lead. 




Learning to Read Wig-Wag 




Chapter III 
They're Off! 



THE time had come when home ties must be broken. It was a beautiful 
Sunday, that seventeenth day of June, when the Company "E" men at 
Pittsburgh said their farewells. They were dined by their Bell com- 
rades, then marched through the streets in the fading light of the setting sun 
to the station, and soon were speeding toward Philadelphia on their way to 
camp in New Jersey. A stop at Greensburg gave the telephone people and 
other friends in that city an opportunity to express their farewells and to turn 
over to the men of the Battalion baskets filled with "eats" to help lighten the 
journey. Lieutenant "Long John" Suddath was a military man from his hat 
to his shoes. As the train was rounding Horseshoe Curve at 9 :t,o he summoned 
Bugler Fest: "You man, you're in the Army now! Don't you know that a 
soldier can't go to sleep without taps? Get out that horn and get busy!" 

On that same evening the Harrisburg section, too, marched to the station 
and amid songs and cheers and surrounded by relatives and friends, started 
on their journey to the same destination. 

The Harrisburg men upon their arrival in Philadelphia were quartered 
in the Museum Barracks over night. At 5:30 in the morning Company "E" 
reached Philadelphia and the men were soon splashing around in a large 
swimming pool where the fatigue of the all-night journey was quickly for- 
gotten. 

The Telephone Company's officials invited the Battalion to breakfast at 
the Union League, and as the Pittsburgh and Harrisburg men with the Phila- 
delphia section assembled, they had the first opportunity to see their future 
comrades. In urging all to do their best in drills, Major Hubbell had been 



THEY'RE OFF! 



2? 




reporting to each Com- 
pany the progress of the 
other. It was interesting 
that morning to watch the 
men "sizing up" their fel- 
lows — and at the same 
time striving to maintain 
a military bearing in- 
tended to impress the 
other members of the 
Battalion. Any one at- 
tending the Battalion 
mess a few months later 
might well come to the 

conclusion that its members had become considerably better acquainted. 
When the meal was over there was a short period of fraternizing, of getting 
better acquainted. Telephone officials who were to run the jobs at home, 
proudly and soberly encouraged the men who were bound for France. Assem- 
bly was sounded and the Battalion was formed in a hollow square in the 
historic Union League Assembly Hall. Behind the khaki-clad men were 
groups of civilians, silent and with shining eyes. The room was so still that 
one could almost hear the breeze which stirred, high up on the wall, the blue 
silk standard that had been carried during the Lincoln presidential campaign 
and with it, one which had flown over the Gettysburg encampment at the 
semi-centennial of that great battle, when the men from the two old armies met 
and exchanged salutes on the field where they had once been in terrible combat. 



' ' Good-bye , Harrisburg ' 




Co. "E" in Philadelphia 



Entering Union League 



26 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



Mr. Kinnard advanced to the center of the room, 
as he spoke : 



He was deeply moved 



"Men of the First Battalion, Signal Reserve Corps: This is not 
a blue Monday; it's a Red, White and Blue Monday. I am here 
not as an executive of your Company and mine; I am here as one 
of the gang, please, who has climbed a pole, dug a hole, made a cable 
splice, installed an instrument — here representing the seventeen 
thousand odd of the men and women, boys and girls — your fellow- 
workers. 

"To be selected for this task and in this capacity is particularly 
pleasing and gratifying to me. 

"You men composing this Battalion have been chosen from those 
of your fellows because of your particular fitness for the tasks to be 
assigned to you in connection with the Signal Corps of the Army 
of the United States. To be selected as you were is a very high 
honor; a real obligation goes with this honor that I have not the 
slightest doubt you will very creditably discharge. The training 
you have had particularly fits you for this branch of the military 
service; the army training you will have is going to bring you back 
to civic life better qualified as telephone men and, I trust, even 
better citizens. 

"The good wishes, love and affection of your fellow-workers in 
the Pennsylvania group are yours. We shall have a very real pride 
in all that you will do; and at no stage of your undertaking should 




Breakfast at Union League 



THEY'RE OFF! 



you have occasion to feel that you are not supported by the cheers 
and prayers of the crowd who will have to stay home because you 
were the best fitted to go. 

"Military duty demands absolute obedience and discipline. You 
have been loyal employees ; your volunteering for this service is only 
another evidence of that loyalty. While absolute discipline would 
be insisted upon — which is the way of the Army — I ask that it be 
given most cheerfully and voluntarily. Conscientious thought was 
given to the selection of your officers. It was no mean job to pick 
men best qualified not only in a technical telephone sense, but also 
best qualified to care for the health and welfare of this body of men 
while in the field. Following strictly what they order and suggest 
will mean health, happiness and honor, and I am sure a thoroughly 
merited 'Well done!' from the citizenship of the country whom you 
go out to serve. 

"The men and women who have been associated with you, jealous 
of the privilege of presenting your Battalion colors, have asked 
me, in their names, to make this presentation. Unfortunately the * 
battle flags are not ready for delivery, but will catch up with you 
in a few weeks — two silk guidons, one American flag, and your 
Battalion standard. I have here for presentation two bunting 
guidons and your bunting American flag — the gift of your Company 
associates. 

"I like to think that they symbolize an ideal — the high con- 
ception which your fellow-employees, in common with you, hold of 
your duty. In civil life it was your ideal that no service should be 
more prompt, more efficient, more unselfishly, and more cheerfully 
given than the service rendered to the public by your Company. 
It has been our habit not to be content to play second to any in 
our performance. Carry these ideals with you — always having in 
mind the importance of the function you are performing. Let it 
guide you in your construction of signal service lines and in their 
maintenance so that they will, as nearly as is humanly possible, be 
in condition to carry the messages that are so essential to the 
successful conduct of this great campaign, always having in mind 
that the reasons which inspired your country to engage in this con- 
flict were of the highest type; that no self-seeking on the part of 
your country is responsible for its participation; no extending of 
territorial boundries; no indemnities; no seeking to increase its 
importance among the world's nations other than for good; but 
that our participation, as in all our previous wars, is due to the 
real sense of duty we owe to civilization and the extending and 
maintaining of the personal liberty which we hold to be the right 
of each individual. 

"Keeping these things in mind, acting as we know you will act, 
our salutation to your flag will be second only to that accorded to 
the Stars and Stripes." 

Major Hubbell, accepting the standards, turned them over to the Color 
Guard, and the band played the National Anthem. 



28 



THE FIRST BATTALION 




Down Market Street, Philadelphia 



There was no ap- 
plause. There was a feel- 
ing in the heart of each 
one present which could 
not be safely entrusted 
to expression. The silence 
was most impressive. 
t .r^^l^^l A messenger boy ad- 

Lb '" ffi&t&ityj M& vanced toward the Major 

laL/ ^fr^M • W^ with two boxes. These 

-*** - contained sums which 

had been contributed by 
the employees remaining 
at home, to provide for 
the man)' emergency ex- 
penses which might be encountered while the two Companies were in 
the service. 

Immediately after the assembly broke up, the Battalion formed on Broad 
Street. Farewells had been said and few of the soldiers expected again 
to see their relatives and friends until the big work had been finished. The 
column swung around City Hall and down Market Street like an organization 
of veterans. At Independence Hall a short stop was made so that the first 
Battalion photograph 
might be made in the 
shadow of that historic 
building. Then the march 
to the ferry was resumed. 
Well-wishers crowded 
the narrow platform in 
the Camden station as 
the men entered the 
train. Outstretched 
hands were gripped from 
the car windows. There were few dry eyes as the band played its parting airs. 
The train pulled slowly out of the station. Arms and hats were waving as a 
token of farewell. The cars rounded a curve and the crowd at the station 
passed out of sight. The First Battalion was on its way! 




They're Off! 




Chapter IV 



Monmouth Pa?~k 



IT WAS but a short ride to the camp at Monmouth Park where the 
Battalion was to undergo intensive training for overseas service. The in- 
spiring exercises of the morning at Union League and the cheering crowds 
along the march and at the station seemed to have their effect on the feel- 
ings of the men. They swung into the camp with such snap and military 
bearing as not only to fill their own officers with pride but to create a deep 
impression upon the "regulars" who were waiting to receive them. 

Tents had already been pitched, but in and around them was a thick tangle 
of briers and poison ivy. As soon as cots, bed sacks, and mess equipment had 
been furnished by the supply detachment, mess was served. After a strenuous 
afternoon spent in cutting down the briers and ivy, the toilers were ready early 
to try out their new sleeping quarters, vowing vengeance upon the Germans, 
whom they held responsible for aching backs and blistered hands. A little 
later Jones received permission to visit his home and he was eloquent in 
describing these duties at camp. One of his friends became incensed that a 
soldier had to do such menial labor and made the very pertinent remark: 
"I should think the Government would hire men to do that kind of work!" 

The training at this camp was under the general supervision of Lieutenants 
Milliken and Corlett, who were, respectively, the Adjutant and Executive 
Officer of the camp, representing the Signal Office of the Eastern Department. 
In direct charge of the First Battalion were Captains Streider and Whitworth. 
These men, all of whom had seen long service in the Signal Corps of the 
Regular Army and were now holding commissions in the Reserve Corps, were 
most helpful in completing the transition to a smoothly-working military 
organization. Regular drills were started that first Tuesday morning bright 
and early, the programs having been outlined at various officers' meetings on 
Monday evening. 



29 



3° 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



Monmouth Park which afterward became a famous Signal Corps Camp, 
known as Camp Alfred Vail, was originally a race course and had had very 
little use for probably twenty years. Portions of the track were cultivated as 
truck patches, but the most of it was overgrown. Plans had already been com- 
pleted for the erection of a number of barracks, and all of the available men 
from the First and Second Reserve Telegraph Battalions (the Second Bat- 
talion was organized from employees of the New York Telephone Company) 
were kept at work each afternoon clearing up the grounds so that construction 
might start. 

Lumber had begun to arrive for the new barracks and one by one the 
pyramidal tents occupied by the Telegraph Battalion acquired comfortable 
wood floors. But the Construction Quartermaster discovered that his lumber 




Playtime 



piles were shrinking before any building had commenced and the "rustling" 
process was stopped. However, the tent colony seemed quite satisfied with 
its labors. 

One after another cases of ivy-poison developed and about the time that 
the victims were recovering, inoculations against typhoid and paratyphoid 
and vaccinations against smallpox were heaped upon them in rapid suc- 
cession. 

Sunburn, ivy-poison, inoculations and vaccinations — these are the things 
that stand out in the memories of those who were at Monmouth Park. "Six 
shots in the arm and thirteen boils, while learning thirty bugle calls in two 
lessons, 'them were the happy days,' " as Fest put it. We must not forget to 



MONMO UTH PJRK 




Cleaning up the Grounds 



mention the camp visits of 
that well-known product 
of New Jersey — the mos- 
quito. Perhaps "visits" is 
not the right word; they 
seemed to make their 
home in the camp and 
apparently, from their 
enthusiasm, very much 
enjoyed their feast on 
these healthy red-blooded 
men. 

At the beginning of the second week, drills throughout the entire day were 
called for. Immediately after morning mess, camp was thoroughly 'policed," 
and then came the assembly call for physical exercise. A familiar sight was 
Lieutenant Milliken, shouting his commands from the top of a large box, while 
the men went through the muscle-stretching antics. Then there were long 
periods of infantry drill, instruction in guard duty and military courtesy, and 
the reading of the "Articles of War" to small groups, There were also prob- 
lems in map reading, and regularly the First Sergeant's forces were assembled 
in the Adjutant's tent for instructions in the intricacies of Army "paper-work." 
Lieutenant Suddath was chief instructor in guard duty, and the various 
guard details showed the effects of his instruction. He had so thoroughly 
impressed the rules upon his men that one 
dark, rainy night, upon his return to camp 
in a Ford which had been lent to the Bat- 
talion by the Telephone Company, the Lieu- 
tenant was forced to "dismount and advance 
to be recognized." In the middle of a puddle 
and in the glare of the headlight, "Suddy" 
straightened up his six-feet-two of indigna- 
tion and thundered — "You, man! Who am 
I?" "Mike" — it was Scanlon who so dis- 
turbed the Lieutenant — did not argue with 
his preceptor. Another time Hull was sweep- 
ing around his tent when Lieutenant Sud- 
dath approached. Hull brought his broom 
to "present arms" without realizing what he 
was doing. "What do you think this is?" 
said Suddath. "Do you take me for an 

officer in some d broom brigade? Cut 

out the funny stuff!" "Smoke' 




3 2 THE FIRST BATTALION 

At the beginning of the third week, Signal Corps construction problems 
were started, being generally developed by Captain Hollister of Company 
"E." Telephone lines were quickly built and as quickly recovered in all 
parts of the camp grounds and along the neighboring roads, and at the same 
time, the Battalion completely installed the telephone system for the camp 
headquarters. 

A number of trucks were received at the camp and those familiar with motor 
vehicles were taken from the Battalion for a short course of instruction. At 
about the same time certain motorcycles were also furnished, and it became 
the duty of the motor sergeants to instruct every one in the organization in 
the operation of these treacherous conveniences. Many trees in the region 
surrounding the camp could tell of sudden jars due to the fact that there are 
times when amateur motorcycle drivers are unable to think and to act with 
sufficient rapidity to prevent collisions. 

The program for training developed so rapidly that there were not enough 
hours during the day to cover all of the work required. Evening classes were 
started. Instructions were given in general Army practices. Still there 
seemed some hours of waking in which profitable instruction might be received, 
and a French class was begun. Lessons were given by Professor Nomberg 
and his wife, of New York, who were spending the summer at a nearby town 
and who gave each week-day evening, except Saturday, to the Signal Corps 
men. 

Who ever heard of a military organization without a mascot? A woman 
tourist from Pittsburgh passed the camp and was interested to find that many 
of the men were from her home town. A few days later she returned with a fine 
little fox terrier which she presented to the Battalion. On account of a large 
black spot on his face and his connection with the Smoky City, the pup was 
promptly christened "Smoke." A friend from Daniels' home town one day 
brought a little collie pup which was given the name of "Bruce." Unfor- 
tunately, while boarding the transport, a large barracks bag fell on Bruce's 
back and the pup was so badly injured that he died. "Smoke," however, 
accompanied the Battalion during its work in France for over a year, but 
under the wheels of a motorcycle he met the fate of many military mascots. 
There were other mascots of a decidedly temporary nature at Monmouth 
Park. A young crow adopted one of the members of Company "D," and 
was at first a very genteel and orderly bird, but before long became a confirmed 
collector of pipes and other small articles belonging to the soldiers. "Jim" 
resented the punishment which was the reward for his thievery, and finally 
left the Battalion, as did a pretty little blue sparrow-hawk which condescended 
to live in the camp for two or three weeks. 

From time to time various officials of the Telephone Company came to the 
camp to see the boys and note the development of the Battalion. Only a few 




THE OFFICERS 

Back Row- Lieut. Fielding P. Meigs; Lieut. Douglas Macfarlan; Lieut. Wm. F. Gauss; 

Lieut. Leroy N. Suddath 

Front Row — Lieut. Thomas H. Griest; Capt. Roy C. Hollister; Maj. James W. Hubbell; 

Capt. Wm. P. Wattles 



33 




34 



FIRST PICTURE ( 
Independence ] 




THE BATTALION 
June 18, 1917 



35 



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36 



MONMO UTH PARK 



37 



of the more rugged of the officials, however, were willing to chance an over- 
night stay with the soldiers. Upon one such occasion Mr. Kinnard, who was 
accompanied by P. C. Staples, Publicity Manager, later Vice-President of the 
Bell Company, and Frank Wisse, Editor of "The Telephone News," decided to 




The Men were Proud 

of their 

"Housewives" 



Camp Pets 



accept a very pressing invitation to spend the night in camp. Before the 
guests retired to their beds of straw which Lieutenant Meigs had supplied, the 
latter displayed a snake which he claimed to have found in the straw — casually 
remarking that he did not know how many others there might be in the bed 
sacks. Evidently Lieutenant Meigs was not taken seriously, for the guests 
were out bright and early to follow all of the military activities. Mr. Kin- 
nard vowed that he had had a good night's rest, but Mr. Staples and Mr. Wisse 
were more critical of their alleged comforts. Upon another occasion, "Boss" 



38 



THE FIRST BATTALION 




Above — A Halt for a Drink from the Water Wagon 
Lower left — Amateur Cooks Lower right — On a Hike 



Badger came in from Pittsburgh, and during that week-end no one could have 
driven him away from his "gang." 

The silk standards which had been promised were now finished, and on 
July twenty-third Mr. Kinnard and his staff again graced the officers' mess 
with their presence, seemingly enjoying the pork and beans which Farrington 
and his crowd had prepared. In the party were J. C. Lynch, later Vice- 
President and General Manager, and Mr. Staples. The Battalion was assem- 
bled. Mr. Kinnard tried to speak, but was overcome by emotion at the 
thought of the impending departure of his "boys." Words failed him and he 
silently turned over the beautiful standards to Major Hubbell. 

July was a rainy month and spirits were rather low, but toward the end 
of the month the weather again became very hot. During this warm spell 
Lieutenant Meigs obtained overcoats, winter caps, arctics, and other heavy 



MONMOUTH PARK 



39 



apparel. No one who has not done it can imagine the misery, on an extremely 
hot day, of trying to fit overcoats, either in the boiling sun or in a hot, crowded 
tent. "Jeff" Adams, however, seemed to take kindly to the winter equipment 
and for a few days, except when at drills, wore his winter cap solemnly around 
the sun-baked park. Twohig kicked about the fit of his shoes. Thorpe, 
Meigs' right-hand man, investigated and, feeling of them, said that they 
fitted very well. Thereupon Twohig removed one of the shoes and showed 
that he had on his civilian shoes underneath ! Thorpe had to admit that the 
complaint was justified. 

The latter part of July brought the last physical examinations and took 
from the Battalion eleven men, including "Big" Hollister, Company "E's" 
Captain. This was a severe blow, both to the Battalion and to the men who 
were forced to withdraw. Many of the latter sought afterward to enter the 
service with other organizations, Sommers, from Atlantic City, even submitting 
to an operation before finally being accepted for service in another signal unit. 
The greatest loss was Captain Hollister — a telephone construction man of 
years of experience and extremely well fitted to meet the supreme test of mili- 
tary capacity — the test of leadership. His loss was deeply felt by all of the 
men in the Battalion. 

Captain Hollister's removal made it necessary to look for another officer. 
Major Hubbell pleaded with the authorities to have the Company proceed 
under Lieutenant Gauss. Permission was granted to have the Company 
temporarily commanded by a Lieutenant but, because of serious vacancies 
already existing in the officers' personnel, due to Lieutenants Repp and Glas- 
pey being already in France, Major Hubbell was ordered to select a Lieutenant 
from the training Battalion then in camp. With the help of Captains Streider 
and Whitworth, who had by this time been permanently taken from the Bat- 
talion and made instructors in the Officers' School, Major Hubbell selected 
Lieutenant Cecil V. Lawrence, formerly with the New England Telephone 
Company at Bangor, Maine. This subsequently proved a fortunate choice. 

Shortly after the Officers' Instruction School had been established, Major 
Hubbell was given permission to recommend one technical man from the 
Battalion for a commission. Sergeant Winston of Company "D" was selected 
and became a Lieutenant. He reached France, via England, in November, 
191 7, with the 408th Telegraph Battalion, becoming Captain in the following 
July and Major in April, 191 9. 

Throughout July there were rumors of departure for France, and as the 
month drew toward its close many events indicated that there was fair founda- 
tion for these reports. The officials of the American Telephone and Telegraph 
Company had shown great interest in the camp during their numerous visits. 
On July twenty-fifth, the President, Theodore N. Vail, with U. N. Bethell, 
N. C. Kingsbury, N. T. Guernsey and Major J. J. Carty, all members of 



MONMO UTH P A RK 



4 1 




Mr. Vail Calls and Says Good-bye 

his staff, came to the camp to bid the First and Second Reserve Battalions 
farewell. The Battalions passed in review before Mr. Vail and Colonel Hart- 
man, the camp commander. Then the men were formed in a square. 
Colonel Hartman introduced Mr. Vail to the military offspring from his tele- 
phone organization and as the venerable President advanced, his emotion was 
quite evident. He felt the deep significance of this occasion when he was to 
have the last word with the men before they left to take up their important 
work on foreign soil. When he regained control of his feelings he spoke: 

'Boys, I have come down to say good-bye before you go. You 
have transferred the allegiance, intelligence and faithfulness you 
have shown to our Company and your Company, and, in so far as 
you put these into your service for your country and our country, 
you will earn all the commendation any one can give you. You 
must all do your best — not comparative, good, better, best — but 
your very best. It is not comparative, it is relative, and relative to 
each of you, and you must make it relative to your opportunities, 
your abilities, your training and everything else. 

"I wish you all success, and hope to meet you again in no distant 
future, and wish you all the good things that are coming, and a safe 
return." 



Departure seemed imminent. The Battalion still needed twenty tele- 
graph operators, and no medical detachment had been provided. Captain 
Hollister, who had remained at camp to render any service possible, was 



4 2 THE FIRST BATTALION 

dispatched to Philadelphia and Pittsburgh to line up the final recruiting, and 
on August fifth the new men arrived. They were: 

Edmond J. Atwood Almond D. McKay 

Leon O. Bailey Herbert S. McNichol 

Albert Banholzer Ralph B. Parke 

John A. Dwyer Allan M. Peterson 

William C. Geddling William C. Pfefferle 

Frank W. Hull Vincent P. Roach 

Barney Kayser John D. Ross 

Jacob Kline Alvin C. Sherrill 

John M. Koser John J. Smith 

Charles P. Leasure William T. Smith 

Joseph T. Lord Gaston Theriot 

Esten C. McCrery Horace B. Welk 
Thomas Worrall 

Medical Detachment 

ist Lieut. Douglas Macfarlan Pasquale J. Cagnina 
John A. Brown Frederic H. Gloor 

John Boyd Nicholas H. Kilroy 

John Lister 

Four others, Harry F. Devlin, Paul A. J. Henry, John K. Maxwell and 
Emmett Moss reached the boat on the seventh, little more than an hour before 
it left the dock. For the next two days the way for these "rookies" was a 
hard one. During their waking hours they were either worked nigh to death 
by Lieutenant Suddath's intense drilling, as he attempted to whip them into 
the finest possible shape, or were rushed around the camp by Lieutenant 
Meigs as he tried to complete their equipment. 

Throughout the stay at Monmouth Park, and particularly during the 
final rush of preparing to depart, the Supply Officer, with Magill, Thorp, 
Gardiner, Lyons and Seymour, and ably assisted by Stille and Sebring, were 
probably the hardest toiling men in the outfit. These assistants were well 
advertised by having their names thundered from the Supply Officer's tent 
almost every minute of the day. In the contest of wits with Lieutenant 
Decker, Lieutenant Meigs met a worthy foe, but no complexity of routines 
nor restrictions of red tape could prevent him from steadily increasing his 
stock of supplies to fit out the new recruits. By threats, cajolings and general 
persuasiveness he secured what he needed from Lieutenant Decker, who 
probably spent many weary hours afterward attempting to square himself 
with his conscience and the records. 

All of the men, to their gratification, were allowed to make week-end trips 
home, and August sixth found every one working with the knowledge that it 



MONMOUTH PARK 



43 



was to be the last day on American soil for a long time. Lieutenant Macfar- 
lan, who had just arrived, built up his medical detachment. Major Hubbell 
scurried everywhere to see that his orders were in proper shape. Lieutenant 
Griest kept Sergeant Bradford busy with the reports and records. 

By three o'clock the next morning mess had been finished, and all of the 
surplus equipment turned back to the Camp Quartermaster. In the many 
months of service which followed, there were numberless movings but none 
such as this. Everything that was of no value was put in one huge pile and, 
with the straw from bed-sacks, was burned, making a huge camp fire. In the 
flickering light from the fire the Battalion formed and marched down to board 
the train at Little Silver Station. The touch of humor in this name "Little 
Silver" was brought home each pay day. 




Above — Packing up at Monmouth Park 



Center left — Loading up 



Center right — Rookies 



Below — Flags on Board the Ferry 



44 TH E FI RST BATTALION 

The train was speeding toward "an Atlantic Port" and all were indulging 
in serious thoughts as the sun began to rise over the Jersey meadows. This 
was the real beginning of the great adventure. What would the sea trip be 
like? Few had had the experience of ocean travel. Would the dreaded sub- 
marines "get" the ship? How would they manage to operate in a strange 
country, and just how much actual fighting would they see? What would 
happen to the people at home while they were away? These reveries ended 
as the train pulled into Jersey City, and all were quickly directed to a waiting 
ferry boat which departed immediately for Hoboken. In these early troop 
movements everything was done to prevent publicity, but workers on passing 
boats readily recognized the soldiers and gave them many rousing cheers. 

At the pier there was little time for thought — all was action. Up one pier 
and down another they marched, until at last they filed up the gang plank of 
the transport "Antilles," and the First Telegraph Battalion, Signal Reserve 
Corps, had embarked for foreign service. 



1 


1 




4^—: r: 




J 




B&& 



Chapter V 



Dod^'ui^ Subma?'ines 



THE "Antilles," before the war, was a Southern Pacific liner, designed 
to carry bananas and other fruits. She was not built with an eye to 
comfort as a troop ship. Crowded on board with the First and Second 
Reserve Telegraph Battalions were an Ambulance Battalion, an Ammunition 
Train, and a Trench Mortar Battery. Despite the congestion, however, the 
troops settled down and had an opportunity to ponder over the submarine 
situation. Many a furtive glance was cast toward the lifeboats and other 
safety apparatus. 

At i :30 p.m., August seventh, the good ship left the pier and started down 
the river. All troops were ordered to keep out of sight and this rule aroused 
little enthusiasm, for it prevented many who had never been there before from 
enjoying a glimpse of New York Harbor and the skyline of lower Manhattan. 
No soldiers were visible on the boat, yet passing vessels seemed to sense that 
it was a troop ship. They blew their whistles and the band of an excursion 
boat stopped playing its ragtime and struck up "Good-Bye, Good Luck, God 
Bless You." 

A short trip brought the"Antilles" to the rendezvous, Gravesend Bay, and 
the troops were then allowed on deck. Other ships were gathering to form 
the convoy. The afternoon was spent in shifting the men around and making 
them as comfortable as their cramped quarters would permit. 

It was decided that the Artillery troops would furnish the ship's guard and 
the Signal troops the watch, this latter being the lookout and under the super- 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



vision of the Navy. Captain "Bill" Wattles was made commanding officer 
of the watch, but before he had completed his schedule for the first night, 
darkness had settled on the bay and, as no lights were allowed, it was impos- 
sible to locate the stateroom list of officers whom he could put on duty. As a 
result, he had to spend most of the night acting as officer on all watches. 




Plowing Steadily Eastward 



Daylight brought a surprise to most of the men on board. At 10 o'clock 
on the previous evening anchor had been lifted, and the convoy had stolen 
noiselessly out of the harbor. So quietly had the departure been managed, 
that the troops on board were unaware of it until daylight showed them the 
sea on all sides, as the ships plowed their way steadily eastward. 

Morning gave the officer of the watch an opportunity to organize his 
forces. The horizon was divided into sixteen parts and sixteen men were 
assigned, each to keep his eyes on his particular sector. Four men were as- 
signed to each of the two crows' nests. These eight men divided the sea into 
eight sectors — each man to keep his eyes on the part assigned to him. By this 
means every visible portion of the sea was covered by two pairs of eyes. 

The convoy, steaming quietly ahead, was impressively calm and business- 
like. The big ships were in column with the "Finland" first, then the "An- 
tilles," "Lenape," "San Jacinto" and "Henderson." Far out in the lead was 
their watch dog, the battleship "Montana," and out on either flank the 
destroyers "Monahan" and "Jewett." 

From the beginning there was the usual grumbling about the food and 
quarters. An occasional entertainment in the evening behind blanketed win- 



DODGING SUBMARINES 47 

dows helped to break the monotony. A quartet from Company "E," Hough, 
Sebring, Stille and Williams, made a hit and Dobbie, of Company "D," with 
his Scotch dialect stories, was the star comedian. Tom Longboat, the famous 
Indian long distance runner, gave the audience an account of his experiences 
with the Canadians at Ypres. 

On the night of the fifteenth storm clouds began to gather, and in the inky 
blackness every eye was strained to keep track of the other ships. About mid- 
night the storm broke. Navy officers aboard admitted that it was quite a 
squall. The "landlubbers," however, considered it a very real storm. Through- 
out the next day it rained and the night again settled black and blowing and 
raining. Clouds began to lift about midnight and a light ahead proved to be 
on the "Montana." The convoy had become separated and the "Montana" 
had taken a chance and displayed a small light in the hope of helping the 
wandering vessels to reassemble. The entire convoy did not reform until 
some time the next forenoon, all the ships having become scattered and having 
plowed through the storm toward the rendezvous appointed for the morning 
of the seventeenth. 

At noon on the seventeenth a fleet of six destroyers came out of the East 
to meet the convoy, and the "Montana" with the two destroyers disappeared 
into the West. The new destroyers constantly circled the fleet, chasing in 
every direction like terriers. When a ship appeared on the horizon one of the 
destroyers scurried out to turn it away. That night the watch became even 
more alert, and all of the men were warned most seriously that they were 
now heading into the zone where the greatest vigilance was necessary. The 
fact that all of the lives on the ship depended on this watchfulness was 
most thoroughly impressed upon their minds. All were required to sleep in 
their clothes, having life preservers and other paraphernalia beside them so 
they could answer an "abandon ship" call in a moment. 

The navy officers were splendid men, as was the ship's master, who had 
been its captain when it was a peaceful freighter. All of these were particu- 
larly proud of the construction of the "Antilles," vowing that she could not 
possibly sink even if torpedoed. This, together with the fact that so far 
all had gone well, fostered a feeling of confidence. At noon, Sunday the 
nineteenth, the alarm whistle of a nearby boat suddenly was sounded and the 
"Antilles" gave a lurch as she was turned quickly out of her course. All im- 
mediately rushed to the decks with their life preservers. Although the 
destroyers raced wildly around the fleet, and all of the boats zigzagged, noth- 
ing developed. It was reported that a torpedo had passed near the bow of a 
destroyer. Some depth bombs were dropped without apparent effect, and 
after a time the convoy settled down into a state of semi-calm to await the 
next excitement. Twice during the afternoon the gunners were again signaled 
to their posts but nothing serious happened. At daylight on the twentieth, 




1 — One of the Gun Crews 2 —A Crow's Nest 3 — " The Most Popular Sport " 

4 — Pulling Away from the Dock 5 — A Subchaser, the French Coast in the Distance 
6 — Boarding the "Antilles" 7 — Arrival at St. Nazaire 8 — During the Submarine Excitement 

SNAPPED ON THE WAY OVER 

48 



DODGING SUBMARINES 



49 



the watch sighted fleets of small fishing vessels with their charming weather- 
stained sails of red and yellow and blue. 

Suddenly, about eight o'clock, just as Belle Isle was sighted and all were 
feeling happy because the journey was nearing an end, came a shot from one 
of the destroyers. There was a rush to the guns. Shot after shot was fired, 
the troops remaining on deck in their life belts. Two French airplanes came 
out from shore to render assistance. The engagement lasted more than an 
hour, and if any one felt any great fear he successfully concealed it. A feeling 
of confidence in the Navy seemed to permeate the ship. 

Altogether about seventy shots were fired and ten depth bombs dropped. 
Just what the toll of submarines was no one knows, but the estimates varied 
from the conservatism of the bridge to the enthusiasm of the hold. Some said 
one and some said ten. The subject was still being debated as the convoy 
with the aid of the French pilot steamed slowly into the harbor. Everywhere 
were small boats with their wonderfully colored sails, the sailors waving their 
hats and shouting "Vive les Americaines !" Throughout the afternoon the 
procession continued up the harbor, the seaside cottages dotting the green 
hills which sloped down to the beach. About five o'clock, amid enthusiastic 
throngs of cheering Frenchmen gathered on the quay, the "Antilles" pulled 
into the basin at St. Nazaire. France at last ! 

All on board expected, of course, that they would be able, before dark, to 
leave the boat and have a chance to test their land legs after thirteen days at 
sea. But there was no such 
luck. They were compelled 
to content themselves with 
the amusement of tossing 
pennies to the children who 
ran along the bank, and in 
being allowed to smoke and 
have lights after dark. In the 
quiet and peace of the harbor 
all thoughts of stuffy quar- 
ters and of ship's food were 
forgotten in the satisfaction 
of knowing that soon there 



E Mffl CABLEGRAM 



23*9 HI 
FRANCE 
KINXHD it, 
SAfE ItLL 



»BCH 3T PHI LA 



R»MUtltMflf fcJrttfpl Mrfi tti 



would be opportunity to be- 
gin the work for which they 

had set out. With thoughts of the debarkation, all turned in for their last 
sleep on shipboard. 

The "Antilles" returned to America and brought over one more load of 
troops. That was her last trip. While on her way back to the United States 
she was torpedoed and went down in six minutes. 




Chapter VI 



"So This Is France/" 



THERE was no mockery about the term "Sunny France" on the morning 
of August twenty-first. Beautiful weather greeted the men and few lin- 
gered long over their last meal on shipboard. Immediately after mess the 
troops landed and the Signal Battalions marched through the crooked streets of 
the quaint old town. There had been few American soldiers in St. Nazaire and 
crowds quickly gathered to wave and shout their greetings. Children ran 
along the streets, tossing flowers to the soldiers and attempting to grasp their 
hands. After leaving the town, the march led over dusty roads to the recently 
constructed Base Camp No. I. At the entrance to the camp a Marine Band 
struck up lively tunes at the arrival of each new unit. It did not take long 
for the men to make themselves at home. Some unloaded and unpacked the 
baggage. More important, others hurried around to find the material with 
which to answer the question "When do we eat?" 

The camp, although prepared to receive thousands of troops, was still in 
course of construction. Everywhere were French soldiers working on new 
barracks, assisted by details of German prisoners. These latter were a curiosity 
— it was the first sight of the enemy, but American guards forbade conversation 
with them. 

Many were the new regulations to be learned. The Battalion was fre- 
quently assembled so that instructions could be passed out to the men. The 
greatest stress was laid on the new censorship regulations, which were in such 

50 



'SO THIS IS FRANCE!" 



O 




S^wGhhR ■AnBn^jIfiflKsBfflliMiiiJ 



W»" 



Disembarking 



an embryonic condition that they were changed almost daily. Many of 
the letters which had been written aboard the steamer had to be rewritten 
because of the rigidness of the rules. It seemed to most of the men 
that about all they were al- 
lowed to say was, "Some- 
where in France. I am here 
and well. Good-bye." 

Dickson had been a dili- 
gent student of the French 
language, both at Monmouth 
Park and on the way over. 
Hardly had he landed at St. 
Nazaire than helookedaround 
for an opportunity to try it 
out. He saw a Frenchman 
and approached him. Very 
carefully, in his very best 

French, he asked a question. The Frenchman looked at him in a puzzled 
way and then said: "If you'd say that in English, I'd understand you a 

d sight better." 

An old friend turned up at camp on the second evening— Lieutenant Repp 
of Company "D." The erstwhile Supervisor of Buildings was arrayed in a 
foreign made uniform with Sam Browne belt, boots and spurs, and it seemed 
that service in France had quickly transformed old "Bill" from a civilian of 
quiet tastes to a military tailor's model. Lieutenant Repp had already gone 




German Prisoners — One of the First Sights at St. Nazaire 



52 THE FIRST BATTALION 

over much of the territory in which the Battalion would work, and he, with 
Lieutenant Glaspey, had determined in general the routes which would be 
followed, the type of construction to be used and where material for the 
work might be obtained. In studying telephone needs, these officers had 
covered by automobile some sixteen hundred miles, passing through more than 
six hundred towns. Lieutenant Repp suggested that the Majors of the two 
Battalions go to Paris to report to Colonel Russell so that they might obtain 
definite ideas on the work which they might be expected to do. This sugges- 
tion was immediately followed. On their return, they too were splendidly 
decked out with boots and spurs and Sam Browne belts. 

Drills were started as soon as the men had become established in the camp 
and, as a very pleasant bathing beach was located not far distant, a hike to 
this beach and a swim in the Bay of Biscay became a part of the daily drill 
program. 

New acquaintances were made each day and evening during the stay at 
St. Nazaire, particularly in the nearby cafes, and the soldiers found Suzanne 
and Elaine and other attractive waitresses most helpful in teaching them 
French. There was one group, consisting of Foust, Hasskarl, Bradford and 
Price, who were rather secretive, rarely taking any one with them on their 
evening walks and visits to the cafes. What the attraction was has always 
remained a mystery. 

A Y. M. C. A. tent had been erected. Entertainments were arranged from 
time to time, and one evening Dr. and Mrs. Herbert Adams Gibbons provided 
a most interesting program. A track and field meet had been scheduled for 
the second day after the Battalion's arrival in camp. Company "E" saw to it 
that the Signal Corps was represented, Hackett winning the fifty-yard dash 
and taking second place in the "hundred," W. J. Beck winning one first and a 
second in the weight events and Scanlon taking third in the "hundred." 

On the twenty-third, orders were received directing a large detail to proceed 
immediately by train to Chaumont to install a telephone system for General 
Pershing's Headquarters, soon to be moved from Paris to that place. Men 
from Company "E" were assigned to the task, and Lieutenant Gauss, with his 
detail, set off, after Lieutenant Meigs had obtained for them supplies and 
coffee money, this latter to enable them to purchase hot coffee from the French 
canteens at various stops long the line. At Orleans there was an opportunity 
to see the famous Cathedral, with the scaffolding for repairs, abandoned when 
the workmen were called to war, still in place. During the stop at Troyes, 
Hackett and McAnallen wandered so far from the train that it later rolled on 
toward Chaumont without them. These adventurous tourists, however, 
boarded another train, an express, and arrived at Chaumont ahead of the detail. 

Lieutenant Glaspey met the detail and it was marched through Chaumont 
amid the cheers of the French populace. The French barracks which were to 



SO THIS IS FRANCE!" 



53 




Barracks, Base Camp No. 1, St. Nazaire 



be used by the Americans had not been sufficiently disinfected, and the men 
pitched their shelter tents in a field nearby. The ground was stony, but after 
their two days and nights in the crowded compartments of a French coach all 
were weary enough not to lose any time worrying about their rough beds. 
The following morning they tackled their first big job. 

A call from Paris sent Ryno, O'Brien and Noonan, of Company "D," 
to that city to take over and organize a telegraph office. Ryno eventually 
returned to his company in February, 191 8, but the other men, two of the best 
telegraph operators in the Battalion, were officially detached from their 
organization so they might remain on duty at this most important office. 
Ryno tells his story of the early days in the Paris Office : 

"After General Pershing and his staff moved to Chaumont, the 
Paris office became the headquarters of the line of communications, 
and I was made chief operator. During my connection with this office 
it grew from a single position to sixteen positions, not including 
two sets of repeaters used on the Chaumont-London wires, requiring 
thirty-five operators and ten clerks to handle the traffic. The 
majority of this equipment was installed under my direction. In 
fact it was generally necessary that I do the work alone as there 
were no special installation men in Paris at the time. A little later 
Lieutenant Fay, with a detachment of Western Electric men, arrived 
and at once proceeded to equip the office with all-American equip- 
ment. In addition to my duties as chief operator, I was in charge 
of a local cable office. The E. F. M., meaning "Expeditionary Force 
Message," enabled every member of the American Expeditionary 
Forces to send cablegrams to America at reduced rates. 

"On account of the rapid growth of this cable department, it 
became necessary to organize an auditing office, and I was trans- 



54 



THE FIRST BATTALION 




Above — The Railroad Station at Chaumont 
Lower left — On the Way to Chaumont Lower right — Assembling Cars at St. Nazaire 

EARLY DAYS IN FRANCE 



ferred to that office, and remained there until returned to the 
Battalion in February, 1918, where I was immediately introduced 
to a bar and shovel." 

United States soldiers were still a novelty in France. The French people 
were eager to show their appreciation of America's participation in the war. 
During the stay at St. Nazaire the Battalion received an invitation to a recep- 
tion at La Baule on Sunday, August twenty-sixth. About forty were allowed 
to go and lots were drawn to see who would be the lucky men. La Baule is 
a fashionable French watering place on the Brittany coast, where many Pari- 
sian families are accustomed to spend the summer. The town had been beau- 
tifully decorated and there were triumphal arches and floral bowers. 

The soldiers on their arrival at La Baule formed at the station and marched 
through the town behind an artillery band, the people showering them with 



"SO THIS IS FRANCE!" 55 

flowers. At the City Hall the town reception committee, headed by the 
Mayor, made speeches of welcome, which few of the men understood. The 
column was then dismissed and the soldiers mingled with the people. Each 
resident of the town had constituted himself a committee of one to receive and 
entertain whomever he happened to meet, and the American soldiers scattered 
in all directions. During the afternoon the beach was crowded, and the 
soldiers splashed about in borrowed bathing suits. On the program were 
Punch and Judy shows, moving pictures and other forms of amusement. The 
whole town turned out to say farewell to the men when they departed for St. 
Nazaire that evening. 

Orders had been received on the night of the ship's arrival that the First 
Battalion was to go to Chaumont and the Second to Dijon. The time for 
leaving camp was given as August twenty-seventh, at thirteen o'clock — the 
first introduction to this extremely practical Continental method of indicating 
time on railroads and in the Allied armies. The march to the station was 
started in a terrific downpour of rain. Kraus, of Company "D," was left 
behind to see that Signal property arriving on any of the transports did not 
go astray. That Kraus accomplished well the work to which he had been 
assigned was evidenced after he had returned to the Battalion, when he was 
recommended by high officers of the Signal Corps for the April class of the 
Army Candidates School. 

Much has been told of the troop cars marked — "Hommes 40, Chevaux 
8" — but fortunately, or so it seemed at first, the two Signal Battalions traveled 
in passenger coaches. As the hours of the long trip rolled by, many of the 
men, generally six in each compartment, began to feel that they might have had 
less cramped quarters in the little freight cars. Worse still, a few of the com- 
partments contained seven or eight men. In one of these latter, Tomlinson 
slung his shelter tent as a hammock near the ceiling, one slept in the aisle 
below, one under each seat and two on top of each seat. Koser, another man 
who drew a place in a well crowded compartment, describes the situation: 

"Say, folks, that was some nest! 
The trip was long and weary, 

I lost my pants and shoes, 
And Corporal Park's feet were in my face 

When I woke up from a snooze." 

•^ At each stop there was wild confusion among the French railroad employees. 
The interpreter invariably learned from the Commissionaire de la Care that 
the train would stop for only five minutes. Usually, after waiting for perhaps 
forty minutes, it would be learned that the train might remain there for an- 
other half hour. Immediately the coaches would discharge their weary pas- 
sengers. The officers, for whom no corned beef and hard tack had been pro- 
vided, hurried to the buffet, there to encounter a chattering and excited mob. 



"SO THIS IS FRANCE!" 



57 



The only way to get any attention was to start away with some food — then 
the price was quickly ascertained. Throughout the journey the greatest cau- 
tion was impressed upon each one because of the possible presence of enemy 
spies. Within the coaches and at each station there were displayed placards 
bearing the admonition : 

"Taisez Vous! 
Mefiez Vous! 
Les Oreilles Ennemies 
Vous Ecoutent!" 

The trip led through Nantes, and on the following day through Orleans and 
the region of the chateaux. On the morning of the third day a halt was made 
at Troyes. Here the Battalions were separated, the Second starting for Dijon. 
The Chaumont train reached its destination at noon. 

As the Battalion assembled outside the station Lieutenant Glaspey, with 
Captain Behn of Colonel Russell's staff, arrived and directed the march 
through town, passing the large barracks, soon to become General Pershing's 
headquarters, to a beautiful boulevard, and under the trees along this road 
tents were pitched. The procession developed into another warm reception 
from the French. 

Before the Battalion had started toward Chaumont, Engstrom, Urffer, 
Whitlock, Armstrong and Craigmile had been sent to a motor park at St. 
Nazaire to assemble motorcycles and trucks. There were no tools provided 
other than those in the kits accom- 
panying the machines, and the park 
at the time consisted of a lot into 
which the motors were dumped as 
they were taken from the ships. 
There was no shelter under which to 
work on the assembling, but never- 
theless when it was time for the Bat- 
talion to pull out, these men had 
fixed up three trucks and a motor- 
cycle, the first motor equipment used 
by the Signal Corps in the American 

Expeditionary Forces. The Second Battalion in a similar manner obtained 
motor equipment, and under the command of Lieutenant Christman, the 
Supply Officer of the Second Battalion, the trucks for both Battalions set 
out from St. Nazaire. 

On the way across France another man was detached. Custard, of Com- 
pany "E," was retained at Nevers to assist in the establishment of one of the 
largest Signal Corps bases, and was later transferred from his company and 
commissioned a Lieutenant in the Signal Corps. 





Chapter VII 



At General Headquarters 



THE Company "E" detachment under Lieutenant Gauss had reached 
Chaumont three or four days before the remainder of the Battalion, 
and had immediately set to work, under the supervision of Lieutenant 
Glaspey. Telephone and telegraph equipment and a lighting plant were 
needed at once in the Caserne Lambert for General Pershing was soon to be 
established there. The ioo-line switchboard was installed by Mumford, Heis- 
ler and Gaghagen; Spears with John Miller and Graber set up the "Delco" 
power plant ; while several installers placed the wiring in the buildings which 
formed the barracks. Telegraph service to Paris was established over a wire 
leased from the French and operated by George, Lindley and Bierfreund. 
Such were the beginnings of the Signal Corps activities at Chaumont, which 
later developed into a service comparable in size and number of messages 
handled with the largest offices in France. 

Those who were detailed to this wire work soon learned to appreciate the 
solidity of French masonry, particularly as it was necessary to do all of the 
drilling for attachments with the very light French tools. But these tools 
had to be used because the American type was not yet available. Captain 
Behn and Lieutenant Glaspey were unceasing in their efforts to obtain an 
adequate supply of tools and material. 

During the installation of telephones at the barracks it became necessary, 
as there was no underground connection, to swing a span of aerial cable be- 
tween two of the buildings. Aerial cable was unknown in France and the 



AT GENERAL HEADQUARTERS 59 

French engineers were skeptical. They felt that this form of construction 
could not be lasting. However, Russell and McAnnallen, the cable experts 
of Company "E," twisted together bare wire and made a sufficiently strong 
wire rope from which to suspend overhead the extremely heavy French under- 
ground cable. On account of the success of this aerial cable job, Russell and 
McAnnallen were sent to Paris to instruct the French telephone men in aerial 
cable construction. 

The Battalion camp was situated under rows of beautiful big oaks which 
lined the boulevard. In clear weather the location was delightful and the 
views beautiful. The ground fell off rapidly into the valley of the little Marne. 
Far to the north and west the hills were dotted here and there with glistening 
spires, each denoting one of the innumerable small villages. In wet weather, 
however, the camp was far from comfortable. For the sake of concealment, 
the tents were kept under the trees, and this location, exposed to the north 
and west winds, was extremely disagreeable. There were no cots, and it took 
but little rain to make soggy masses of the straw-filled bed sacks. This, 
however, was in line with the ideas of the Commander-in-Chief, who was 
anxious that the men become quickly hardened to the rigors of camp life. 

To insure the completion of the headquarters' telephone equipment on 
scheduled time, all available central office men were sent to help Lieutenant 
Gauss as soon as the camp had been established. As a result, in just one week, 
both telephones and electric lights were working. 

There have been many signal organizations which had claimed the credit 
for erecting the first poles in France. It would be a hard matter to convince 
the men of the First Battalion that the six poles which they erected for the 
stringing of telephone and electric light wires around Headquarters that last 
week in August, 191 7, were not the first to be erected by the American Signal 
Corps. 

The first American officers arrived at the new Headquarters on the first 
of September, and the French planned a dedication ceremony for the after- 
noon. When the exercises were about to begin, it was discovered that there 
were no American troops present! How could American Headquarters be 
dedicated without a "doughboy" to grace the occasion? Somebody had an 
inspiration. The First Telegraph Battalion! Why not? Off came the 
overalls, and on went the uniforms. In a very few minutes, they lined up at 
attention as the exercises were carried out and the American and French flags 
were raised to the tops of the staffs. Thus did the Battalion represent the 
rank and file of the whole American Army at the dedication of General Head- 
quarters, A. E. F. 

During the week following the arrival in this camp, the officers went over 
the route for the first trunk line, to be built between Chaumont and Neuf- 
chateau. The route had been tentatively selected by Lieutenant Repp and, 



6o 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



in a broad way, permission had been obtained from the state authorities to 
place poles along the roads, across bridges, and through towns. The details 
of the route, however, had not been studied nor had materials been obtained. 
Lieutenants Repp and Glaspey were delegated by the Chief Signal Officer 
to obtain poles and arrange for their distribution. It was at first planned 
that all of the poles should be shipped from America, but after realizing the 
vast number which would be required, Colonel Russell decided that the cargo 
space could not be spared and that poles must be obtained in France. Lieu- 
tenant Repp obtained from the French Postes et Telegraphes and from other 




Above left: The Aerial Cable Above right: Underground Construction 

Center: Underground Construction 

Lower left: The Camp Under the Trees Lower right: The Mess Tents Were Centers of Interest 

AT CHAUMONT 



AT GENERAL HEADQUARTERS 



sources about seven thousand poles and, as soon as the studies were made for 
this first line, he set about obtaining French brackets, wire and other fittings. 
While the studies were progressing Major Hubbell, with some of his staff, 
traveled up and down the highways to settle various construction problems 
which had arisen. 

McCann, who was "chauffeuring" for the Major, gave him a thrill one dark 
night by bumping into a team of oxen. 

Although it could readily be seen before the construction was begun that 
it would eventually be a twenty- or thirty- wire line, there was so little material 
available, that only one pair of wires could be strung at the start. French 
construction in ordinary times does not countenance crossarms along the 
highways. They are considered pasjolie, and furthermore, the French believe 
that their soil is not sufficiently solid to hold single poles with crossarms. 
Where crossarms are used they are usually placed on "H" fixtures consisting 
of two poles. Probably the most important reason of all, however, for this 
opposition to crossarms comes from the fact that their use would require 
either that the lines be placed on private property or else so close to the trees 
bordering the highways as to require that the latter be trimmed. It is difficult 
to decide whether the suggestion of trimming trees or of placing poles on 
private property caused the greater consternation among the French officials. 
In all of the early negotiations the French were very specific in ordering that 
the lines be built between the driveway and the rows of trees paralleling either 
side of the road. Discussion on this last point introduced to the Battalion 
the then Captain Voris, Signal Officer of the First Division, who later became 
Signal Officer of the First Army Corps, to which this "Battalion of Experts," 
as he called it, was attached. 

Captain Voris was most determined that it was unwise to consider building 
the Neufchateau line between the trees and the edge of the road, because he 
felt sure that the road would become a much used military highway, and there 
would be constant danger of the breaking of poles by the heavy traffic. His 
opinion prevailed and it was decided that this main line should be built on the 
field side of the border of trees. Wherever it was necessary to place any 
poles on private property the formal consent of the property owners had to be 
obtained and the signed permission filed with all other papers relating to the 
line. 

In order to build the line tools were necessary, but there were few of the 
American variety to be had. Several trial efforts were made to ascend poles 
by the use of French "climbers." These climbers closely resembled the curved 
section of a crab's claw, and it was almost suicidal for a lineman to attempt 
to walk when fitted out with them. 

In climbing poles a French lineman takes a very short step and feels quite 
secure because the "hook" with its toothed edges, attached to each foot, more 



62 



THE FIRST BATTALION 




French Lineman 



than half encircles the pole. After 
descending from the pole the French- 
man removes his hooks and carries 
them to the next pole. The Ameri- 
can lineman puts on his "spurs," as 
he calls them, when he starts work in 
the morning, and keeps them on un- 
til he takes them off at noon, or per- 
haps not until evening. 

Some one had smuggled a pair of 
American spurs into France with his 
other property and, using these as a 
pattern, Lieutenant Meigs rented a 
blacksmith shop and set Sebring and 
King, with Grant, Urffer and Lander 
to work making spurs ; he also com- 
mandeered a saddle shop and, with 
a wonderful display of patience, dem- 
onstrated to the woman in charge 
how the leather straps for these 
home-made spurs were to be fashioned. When they were completed Lieu- 
tenant Meigs was told by the woman that he could not take them from the 
shop until they were paid for — such was the attitude, and not without some 
reason, of the French toward army trade. The Supply Officer had used all of 
his cash in buying large stocks of shovels, hatchets and other tools, but he 
must have these straps. After exhausting his French and his patience, he 
bundled them under his arm and started down the street followed by the 
large, irate French woman, waving her arms and protesting loudly. When the 
little procession reached camp, Meigs managed to raise the cash to pay the bill. 
He gave her the money and patted her on the back, and the sun shone once more. 

Shovels, bars, drills, and hammers were obtained from the French after 
scouring the country in all directions, even including Paris, but the tools were 
not of the substantial type to which the men were accustomed. 

The Battalion camp at Chaumont was the center of interest each after- 
noon, and particularly on Sundays, when almost the entire French population 
visited it. These good French people swarmed through the tents, chattering 
and asking innumerable questions. They were particularly interested in the 
two mess tents, and would hang around the camp until meals were served, 
so that they could watch the food disappear and perhaps obtain helpings of 
beef stew and potatoes, and a small piece of white bread, the like of which they 
had not seen since the war began, and which they called gateau. Some of the 
men of the Battalion saved their mending for Sundays, and when attractive 



AT GENERAL HEADQUARTERS 63 

visitors (female, of course) wandered toward camp, the men appeared with 
their "housewives," the gifts of the girls of The Bell Telephone Company of 
Pennsylvania, and, after a little laborious effort, were sure to have an inter- 
ested mademoiselle finish the job for them. This practice was not so profitable 
for Cowan who, having in this way had new chevrons attached to his overcoat 
and the coat returned neatly folded, later discovered after mademoiselle had 
gone that the buttons from the coat had also disappeared. 

In the barracks adjoining general headquarters French recruits of the class 
of 1 91 9 were being trained. Most of these men, or rather boys, were then 
nineteen years old, but mixed with them were a few who seemed much older, 
perhaps men who had formerly been exempt from service or considered not 
up to the physical standard, but who now in the final combing out of French 
man-power had been called to the colors. Compared with the splendid physical 
specimens in the Battalion, these very young French recruits, who were in the 
service fully two years before their time, seemed almost of a smaller race. , 

During this period such a growth of business developed from the American 
Headquarters over the various French lines, then the only means of communi- 
cation, that the French decided it would be necessary to place an under- 
ground cable between the American and French exchanges. Details of men 
were furnished by the Telegraph Battalion to dig the trench into which this 
cable would be placed. The erstwhile telephone construction men, central 
office men and telegraph operators developed blisters, sore backs and irritable 
dispositions. "Squad" McKinney, formerly a commercial clerk, lost his 
"corporation." The telegraphers in the Battalion recalled with a joyless 
smile that advertisement: "Wanted — 5,000 Telegraphers for the Army." 
But the trench was soon completed and the cable laid, to the horror of the 
American cable experts, without any conduit, the only protection being a light 
layer of sand and broken stones immediately around the cable before the 
trench was filled. 

This job was in charge of Sergeant Dickson, and the men began to appre- 
ciate the force of Lieutenant Suddath's familiar expression, "The Army is a 
cold blooded proposition." The trench led past a house, in front of which a 
pretty mademoiselle sat each day, making gloves. It seemed difficult for the 
men to keep their minds on the work in the trench. They could not make their 
eyes behave. The hard-hearted Dickson, who was capable of talking the 
language of the mademoiselle in what might have been called "pidgin" Eng- 
lish or "pidgin" French, depending on the native tongue of the person listening 
to him, explained to the young woman that these men in their blue denims 
were prisoners of war and very dangerous characters. Thereafter, misbehav- 
ing eyes and coy glances had no effect on the mademoiselle. 

After many trips by day and conferences by night, the route for the Neuf- 
chateau line was selected. The wire which Lieutenant Repp borrowed from 



THE FIRST BATTALION 




On the Chaumont-Neufchateau Line 



the French, pending the arrival of American supplies, was received. With a 
Battalion of eager and willing men, two small trucks, two motorcycles and one 
"flivver," the construction of the line was started. Setting-up exercises and 
mess were finished each morning before dawn. Evening mess, after the work 
became well started, was served in the gathering dusk. To deliver all of 
the men at their work, have mess on hand at noon, and return the men to 
camp, to say nothing of distributing the poles along the road after obtaining 
them at Foulain (a town about twelve kilometers south of Chaumont), the 
little motor detail had its hands full. It was kept constantly on the road 
from six in the morning until long after dark. To the motor mechanics of 
both of the companies is due great credit for keeping the trucks in shape under 
such heavy and constant use. 

The line followed high ground all the way from Chaumont to Neuf chateau 
and almost all of the holes had to be dug through solid rock. The steel of the 
foreign made tools was soft, and as soon as the shop forces had finished making 
the linemen's spurs they were put to work on the never-ending job of sharpening 
digging bars and repairing shovels. 



AT GENERAL HEADQUARTERS 



65 



During the training at Monmouth Park, during the days on the water, 
and until they reached Chaumont, the work was of such a nature that the 
most calloused hands had become soft. In this job of drilling rock holes with 
soft steel bars when even the old-time linemen suffered, the central office men 
and telegraphers developed tremendous blisters. Lord and Peterson were 
sent to the hospital, where it required over six weeks to heal the abscesses 
on their hands. Incidentally this pair was so well cared for in the hospital that 
they were loath to return to camp. But that is another story. 

As dynamite had not yet been received from America, it was arranged with 
the French engineers to use some of their explosive called "cheddite." A supply 
was obtained at Langres. The French were extremely careful to warn the 
Americans of its tremendous power and treachery. Only those most experi- 
enced in the use of dynamite were taken for the first trial and, after a hole 
was drilled in the rock, the charge placed and fuse lighted, every one retired a 
comfortable hundred yards to await results. The "old-timers" characterized 
the explosion as being almost as powerful as that of a small firecracker, and 
before the day was over holes were being fairly successfully blown with charges 
ranging from four to six times the maximum charge advised as safe by the 
French. 

As soon as any of the men could be spared from shifting and adjusting 
the constantly growing plant at General Headquarters, they, too, were put 
out on the line, and many were the amusing and pathetic comments of the 
instrument men who had never before tried to dig holes. Cavanaugh, of 
Company "E," was particularly outspoken in his aversion to the use of 
digging tools, although he worked along cheerfully and steadily. Two years 
before, Cavanaugh had been a candidate for Congress on an eight-hour day 
platform, and his views of working days of twelve and fourteen hours> rain 
or shine, on rock holes, were interesting but not printable. Hannam, of 




The Camp at Liffol le Grande 



Interpreter Thevelin 



66 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



Company "D," whose telephone experience had consisted largely of installing 
telephones and working in central offices, did not appreciate at all his intro- 
duction to the "steel pencil." 

In order to make the greatest possible speed, work had been started on 
a section of the line, the route for which seemed open to little question. The 
sections upon which the engineering was more difficult were held until later. 
As the work progressed and it became almost impossible for the three trucks 
to meet all of the demands for transportation, Company "D" was moved to 
a field near Liffol le Grande, and worked on the upper part of the line. 

Tents were pitched under the trees along the highway in what had been 
a wheat field. When the rains started, the camp became a sea of mud. But 
"D" Company enjoyed life at Liffol, and, under the cheerful influence of 
Captain Wattles and Lieutenant Lawrence, developed into an extremely 
smooth-working and happy family. With the limited number of trucks, the 
supply of rations sometimes ran low. Farrington, in an effort to keep down 
comment in the "bread line," sallied forth occasionally with Dailey and 
Tomlinson, to raid neighboring potato patches. 

To facilitate the delivery of poles, Lieutenant Glaspey had arranged to 
have them shipped to a number of stations along the route. It required con- 
stant watchfulness to learn of their arrival, and a great deal of following up 
to hurry the shipments. Here it was realized for the first time that there 
were a large number of towns bearing almost the same names, and one must 
be careful always to use the whole name. One large shipment of poles had 
been ordered to Vesaignes, Glaspey having in mind Vesaignes-sous-Lafauche. 
After the orderly progress of 
the work had been held for 
several days, it was discov- 
ered that these poles had 
been sent to the unqualified 
Vesaignes — many kilometers 
to the south. 

On the trip from St. Na- 
zaire, the truck train was 
directed by an interpreter, 
Edouard Thevelin, who re- 
mained attached to the Bat- 
talion. Another interpreter 
who had accompanied the 
Battalion on its trip by railroad, returned to the seaport town after he had 
delivered his charges at Chaumont. Thevelin early became very popular. He 
was especially helpful to the Supply Officer in arranging for the various 
workshops and in the purchase of axes, hammers, pliers and other tools. 




Camouflage 



AT GENERAL HEADQUARTERS 



67 





Village of Prez 



'Dad" Murdaugh 



When Company "D" moved to Liffol le Grande, Thevelin accompanied this 
unit to help with the rights-of-way work on the upper section of the line, and 
all of the negotiations by Company "E" were carried on in the near- French 
of the Battalion officers and noncoms. 

General Headquarters was fearful of German observation from the air, 
and constantly warned all troops near Chaumont to keep under cover as 
much as possible. At night but a single flickering gas light was permitted in 
the town. This was dubbed the "Gay White Way." It was necessary to 
camouflage all tents or canvas which could not be concealed under the trees. 
This made the camp look far more war-like. "D" Company's camp, being 
almost fifty kilometers nearer the front, also had its tents decorated. 

Constant work in the open air, although the weather was frequently un- 
pleasant, kept most of the men in splendid physical shape. There were, 
however, a few cases for the hospital. Pemberton, who had for a long 
time had a bothersome knee, became so crippled with rheumatism that he 
could do nothing but hobble around close to camp, and collect souvenirs 
from the French soldiers in the nearby barracks. When Company "D" 
moved to Liffol, "Pern" was dispatched to a hospital, and his various shifts 
took him on a tour of France. The first accident case occurred when Buehler, 
on a motorcycle, attempted to turn out for a French artillery column, which 
occupied much of the road, and collided with a tree. "Marty" spent several 
weeks after that at the Bazoilles Hospital. Another hospital patient was 
Haislop. This big lineman developed a pain in his back which Lieutenant 
Hasskarl proceeded to "cure" with a French plaster. Walter spent two 
weeks in the hospital while new skin replaced the blisters and upon the 
day of his return to work, as he himself puts it, "A 'rookie' let a pike slip 
out of a pole and hit me on the head." That time the hospital sentence was 
"eight stitches, eight days." Then, too, there was a little scare of measles 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



in the camp at Liffol, and Althouse was ostracized with "Silent" Bigham, 
in a "pup" tent some distance from the camp. 

Despite the consistent good health of the organization, Lieutenant 
Macfarlan collected a large assortment of medical supplies and had them 







Some "E" Men 



Some from "D" 



professionally arranged in a tent. This tent was one of the centers of interest 
for the natives. The doctor, having a good knowledge of French and being 
of a sociable turn, made many new friends, frequently spending his unoccupied 
hours in their society. One of the Frenchmen presented the doctor with 
a puppy, said to be a "Tunisian Bee Hound." This dog was given the name 
"joffre," and became the arch nuisance of the camp. 

The Neufchateau line continued to grow, and, in order further to speed 
its completion, a large detail from Company "E" was moved to Rimacourt 
with Lieutenant Suddath. From this point they worked early and late. 
The line followed the main highway, avoiding some towns through which 
the road made too many bends, and, in others, following straight through the 
main street. At Prez, one of the latter towns, Murdaugh tried his French 
on the village authorities and learned that there was a water main on the 
east side of the highway. "Dad" therefore selected the west side for the 
pole line, and in digging the first hole succeeded in puncturing the water 
pipe. Being a master of all trades, Murdaugh set to work to repair the pipe, 
and the result of his effort was entirely satisfactory to the villagers. 

Before building the line into Neufchateau, many routes were studied. The 
one finally selected crossed two meadows which were traversed by an innocent 
looking little stream called the Mouzon, one of the smaller branches of the 
River Meuse. The Mayor of Neufchateau stated that this stream became 
very much larger in the spring. The route selected, however, seemed the 
most practical considering the limited materials available and the pole line 
was believed to be far enough from the banks of the stream to be entirely 
safe. This probably was the poorest decision along the route, in view of 
developments the following January. 



AT GENERAL HEADQUARTERS 69 

While the Neuf chateau line was being pushed with all possible speed, 
there were other activities which could not be neglected. Frequent changes 
and additions were required at General Headquarters, requiring the constant 
services of several men, as did the actual operation of the telephone and 
telegraph offices. Colonel Russell, who had investigated certain of the means 
of communication used by the British, determined upon the establishment 
of a Motor Dispatch Service, and the first service between Chaumont, Neuf- 
chateau and Gondrecourt was placed in charge of Corporal Graber, of Com- 
pany "E," as chief machinist and supervisor, and was manned by Heisler and 
Koser, of Company "D," and Giles and Geib, of Company "E." The first 
machines furnished were of British make — "Triumph," and were successfully 
operated until a supply of American machines arrived. On one of the trips, 
Koser with his car ran off the road to avoid hitting a herd of cows and became 
stuck in the mire of a plowed field. Fullerton came along with a truck and 
pulled Koser back on the road. This was called "Koser's First Citation"— 
Fullerton "cited" him in the mud. Throughout the autumn and bitter winter 
of 191 7 these men continued in the Motor Dispatch Service, never failing to 
deliver a single message. They returned to the Battalion when it was assigned 
to the First Army Corps in February. Graber, however, had made himself so 
valuable to the Motor Dispatch organization by the care which he gave the 
machines that he was permanently assigned to General Headquarters. The 
Motor Dispatch Service grew until several hundred routes were established 
all over the war area. 

After a burst of hard and strenuous work, which permitted no slowing 
up on account of bad weather, the first trunk line of approximately fourteen 
hundred sections was completed on September twenty-seventh. Shortly 
afterward, the line which the Second Field Battalion of the First Division 
had constructed between Neufchateau and the headquarters of the Division 
at Gondrecourt was connected to the Chaumont-Neufchateau line, and 
became the first American trunk between General Headquarters and the 
training headquarters of a Division. 




Chapter VIII 



Hard Work a?id Sowe Diversion 




OTH Lieutenants Repp and Glaspey, on being made Captains, were 
transferred permanently to General Headquarters at this time. This 
fact, together with the experience gained during these first days in 
France, made certain changes in the officer personnel advisable. Lieutenant 
Meigs was made Adjutant, in place of Lieutenant Griest, who was transferred 
to Company "E." Lieutenant Suddath became Supply Officer, and Lieutenant 
Lawrence was transferred to Company "E." Lieutenant Foust, newb- 
promoted, was assigned to Company "D." 
The following gives the new arrangement: 

Major James W. Hubbell — Commanding 

Headquarters Supply 

1st Lieut. F. P. Meigs 1st Lieut. L. N. Suddath 

Adjutant Supply Officer 

Medical 

1st Lieut. Douglas Macfarlan 

Medical Officer 



Company "D" 
Capt. W. P. Wattles 
ist Lieut. L. R. Foust 



Company "E" 
Capt. W. F. Gauss 
ist Lieut. T. H. Griest 
ist Lieut. C. V. Lawrence 



70 



HARD WORK AND SOME DIVERSION 



7i 



At the start, when the signal work was apportioned between the First 
and Second Reserve Battalions, the First Battalion was charged with the 
installation of the telephone equipment and power plant at General Head- 
quarters, and the construction of the trunk line from Chaumont to Neuf- 
chateau. The Second Battalion was assigned the installation work for the 
artillery camp at Valdahon and the construction of the trunk line from Dijon 
to Chaumont. There was keen rivalry between these New York and Penn- 
sylvania Battalions concerning the speed with which the work would be done. 
Major Shearer, of the Second, laid a wager with Major Hubbell that the 
trunk line from Dijon would be completed before the First Battalion reached 
Neuf chateau. The penalty, considered by Major Shearer as particularly 
appropriate for a Philadelphian, was to be a snail dinner. The First Battalion 
not only completed the Neufchateau trunk 
and the Chaumont switchboard installation, 
but Company "E" started to build toward 
Dijon and met the Second Battalion some 
twenty-five kilometers south of Chaumont. 
The snail dinner which was thus won by the 
First Battalion has not yet been given. 

In the meantime, Company "D" began 
wiring various training areas, preparatory 
to the arrival of American Divisions. The 
Twenty-sixth, later known as the "Yankee" 
Division, was assigned to the Neufchateau 
training area, and there, too, was to be estab- 
lished the headquarters of the Divisional 
Areas organization. Company "D" dis- 
patched details which began the installation 
of two forty-line switchboards with their 

necessary telephones, and strung wires to different nearby towns in which 
Brigade, Regimental and Battalion Headquarters were located. At the same 
time, Sergeant Lutz took a detail to Bazoilles to install a switchboard with a 
number of stations in the hospital being established there by the Johns Hop- 
kins unit. This was the first American hospital in France to have a com- 
plete telephone system. Moreover, this system was connected by American 
circuits to the American board at Neufchateau. 

While Company "E" was still working on the Dijon trunk line, Com- 
pany "D" was made responsible for "Divisional Areas" work. The first 
area, with Gondrecourt as a center, had been wired by a Field Battalion 
from the First Division, but it was expected that many of the other areas 
would be cared for by Company "D" of the Telegraph Battalion. The field 
at Liffol which had been its home for some time had become a very un- 




The Barracks at Neufchateau 



T- 



THE FIRST BATTALION 




■Mm. -M 

-4 





1— After Right of Way 



-The Camp 3 —Some of the Men 4 — The Mayor 
AT L UZ Y 



pleasant habitation due to rains, and further, this camp was far from the 
center of the new activities. So Captain Wattles moved his men into wooden 
barracks at Neufchateau. Surveys were made, plans outlined, and material 
ordered so that the various areas might be wired in time to receive the 
troops according to schedule. 

As soon as the Neufchateau area had been satisfactorily covered, a detach- 
ment was ordered to Bourmont to wire the area for the Second Division, 
which included the brigade of Marines, destined to become famous the follow- 
ing summer. Electrician Brittain took charge of this job with a platoon. 
Hannam and Craigmile installed the switchboard in the Hotel de Ville (City 
Hall), while the construction men ran numerous lines in the town and to out- 
lying points. One of the first jobs was a pole line with ten wires, from the 
top of the high hill on which Bourmont is located, down to a railroad and 
thence to Neufchateau on the poles along the railroad. Billets were at a 
premium, and these men, who had just left a new, wood-floored barracks at 
Neufchateau, were required to clean out a stable on the grounds of a chateau. 



















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LEGEND 






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■-— Main Highways 
— — Ratlroads 

Important Pole Lines constructed 

by (he 406 lh Telegraph Battalion 






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Kilomelers 

















THE TERRITORY AROUND CHAUMONT AND TOUL 



74 THE FIRST BATTALION 

One of the sections was assigned to the hayloft, and the other to the first 
floor. On the first evening, Gardiner and Ricciardi furnished entertainment 
with their mandolins, on the ground floor, and Graham was singing to his 
audience in the loft, when suddenly there was a crash — the "hayloft tenor" 
had stepped upon a loose board and, coming through the floor, landed heavily 
in the midst of the audience below. 

Company "E" was divided in two parts during the construction of the 
Dijon line south from Chaumont toward Langres. Half of the Company 
remained with Captain Gauss at Chaumont ; the other half, being the platoon 
which had been stationed at Rimacourt while building the Neuf chateau line, 
was to select a camp site to the south, near the other end of the job. Various 
places were examined, and a high field near Luzy was chosen as being best 
adapted for the camp. Before taking any liberties with this field, Major 
Hubbell, with Captain Gauss and Lieutenant Griest and Interpreter Thevelin 
interviewed the Mayor of Luzy. The old gentleman shuffled out with his 
large wooden sabots to his door-yard gate, and ushered the Americans into his 
little study. After learning their mission, he decided he would go with them 
to interview the owner of the field. His wife, apparently the head of the 
house, went along, possibly because it was the first opportunity she had ever 
had to ride in an automobile. The desired permission was obtained, and 
a few days later the platoon under Lieutenant Griest took possession. 

The construction of the line from Chaumont to Neufchateau had taught 
the lesson that it was not always best to stick too close to the roads, and 
that possibly too much attention had been paid to the desirability of keeping 
all poles off private property. Consequently, south of Chaumont, the most 
direct line was laid out, and deviations from this direct route were made 
only where absolutely necessary. On one short stretch the road was so 
crooked that to keep to the highway would have necessitated fourteen 
"corners" or turns, each with its guy wires to withstand the strain. The 
shorter route was adopted, although at times it kept the line far from the 
road. This route led through a large woods. To indicate the cooperation 
of the French, it should be mentioned that Lieutenant Repp obtained per- 
mission from the Paris owner to cut a path thirty feet wide through these 
woods so as to give the line proper clearance. 

The towns people of Luzy previous to this time had seen no American troops, 
and they were much interested in the little tent camp on the hill. On Sun- 
days they swarmed through the tents, often under the leadership of the Mayor, 
who had adopted the platoon as his own. One of the most frequent visitors, 
a man of mixed French and Italian blood, cut the heavy growth of clover 
around the tents, and while not attending to his duties in the lock house at the 
canal supplied the tents with flowers and the soup pot with savory vegetables — 
his method of showing his appreciation of American participation in the war. 



HARD WORK AND SOME DIVERSION 



75 




General Pershing 



At this time a small shipment of 
American tools arrived, and there 
was keen rivalry to obtain the famil- 
iar shovels, spoons and bars. There 
were few new construction prob- 
lems along this line, and the men 
tackled it with such good will, that 
one after another the various goals 
which had been selected as the prob- 
able junction point with the Second 
Battalion were reached and passed. 
So rapidly did the work progress 
that it was a hard matter for the 
survey detail to keep the work 
mapped out ahead of the construc- 
tion parties. Hutchinson, with 
Barto and Shinfessel, held forth in 
the pole yard at Foulain, and by 
dint of hard work, kept Cavanaugh 
busy with his delivery detail. Dan- 
ley's crowd, who were digging the holes, turned out the earth in rapid style ; 
only by so doing could they keep ahead of Davis and his pole-setters. 

At the foot of the hill, near the little camp at Luzy, there was a cafe, 
and the men divided their evenings between this center of amusement and 
the Y. M. C. A. tent. The little cafe was like a dungeon, having a stone 
floor, the only light entering through the front door. At the rear was the 
entrance to the wine cellar, under the hill. The walls presented a kaleido- 
scopic effect, some parts covered with plaster but more places where it had 
fallen away, leaving the stone bare. Madame, a cheerful matron, cut bread 
for her many guests by holding the loaf against her doubtfully-clean black 
waist and cutting toward her (no thought of "safety-first"), chatting pleasantly 
during the operation. Frequently the evening crowd in the cafe was joined 
by Edmond Jacques, the crippled son of the Mayor, who shared his father's 
interest in the Americans. 

The weather for the first week in October was delightful. In the morn- 
ing, assemblies and setting-up exercises were held by moonlight, without the 
aid of artificial light. Later in the month, however, the rain descended 
once more and the clover field at Luzy became a quagmire. Despite the 
weather, the men continued at a fast clip and the line grew steadily toward 
the south. 

After one particularly cold, wet day, all of the officers of the Battalion 
received orders from the Major, directing them to come to Chaumont at 



76 



THE FIRST BATTALION 




Brigadier-General Russell 



once. The occasion of the call was 
the reception in General Pershing's 
chateau, in honor of his having been 
made a full General — the first to at- 
tain the rank since General Grant. 
At the same time, Colonel Russell 
had been made a Brigadier-General. 
Generals and Colonels were far more 
numerous at the reception than Cap- 
tains and Lieutenants. The Bat- 
talion officers, however, took advan- 
tage of the opportunity to meet the 
Commander-in-Chief and his Staff. 

More motor equipment had begun 
to reach France. Frequently, details 
from the Battalion were sent to the 
coast, and, after assembling the 
machines, drove them back to Chau- 
mont for distribution among Signal Corps outfits. From time to time, also, 
vehicles were purchased in Paris, and lucky were the men detailed to care 
for their delivery to headquarters, for they were always assured of two or 
three days for sight-seeing in "Gay Paree." 

Probably one of the most interesting of these motor trips was that of 
a detail of twenty-eight men from the Battalion who set out, under Elec- 
trician Conwell, for St. Nazaire, stopping for a short time at Paris. After 
two weeks at the port, assembling cars and trucks, they started across France 
with Lieutenant Christman and some Second Battalion drivers. There were 
fifty-two trucks and several passenger cars in the column. The trip led through 
Nantes, Angers, Tours, Nevers to Dijon, passing the great wine country, 
along the famous dike of the Loire, and the cliff-dwellers near Tours. As the 
trucks proceeded the men were greeted in each city, town and village with 
cheers and hand-shakes and flowers. No matter where the trucks stopped 
for the night, the towns-people invited all of the soldiers to dinner. At 
Dijon this long train was split, half the trucks proceeding to the First Bat- 
talion at Chaumont. The truck problem, which had been a very serious one 
at times, was solved. 

Work under high pressure and the maintenance of good health required, 
among other conditions, satisfactory mess. Any one who has listened to the 
comment in a mess ine realizes that the job of Mess Sergeant is not a bed 
of roses. "When do we eat?" has a foreboding sound. As the l'ne begins 
to move, Bill Smith growls, "What! those d— - carrots again today?" 
Forwood comes along, "Oh, no, you can't camouflage corned beef with 



HARD WORK AND SOME DIVERSION 



11 




There WereNoDish Washing Machines 



tomatoes and spuds and try 
to tell me it's fresh beef." 
And from Lutz, "I don't 
want that soup, it's got 
onions in it." Such com- 
ments as these became too 
much for Farrington, and he 
persuaded Captain Wattles 
to allow him to dig holes, 
while Dailey and Tomlinson 
stuck to the job of furnishing 
"D" Company's food. Gos- 
ser in "E" spent much of 

his time in various provision stores in Chaumont, until the knowledge of 
French which he thus acquired obtained for him a commission in the Adju- 
tant-General's Department, and Vance became the boss of "E" Company's 
mess. 

With each extension of the A. E. F. organization in the vicinity of Chau- 
mont, the First Battalion, being the Headquarters Battalion, was called upon 
for more facilities. Such an occasion arose when it was decided to open an 
Army Staff College and Training School at Langres. Captain Gauss went 
down to this delightful old walled town and, after interviewing various 
generals, obtained enough information to enable him the following day to 
send Sergeant Lowe with a detail of men to install switchboards, and to 
wire up the barracks which were to be occupied as the headquarters. 

The city of Langres was under strict military discipline, and Gallo of 
"E" Company was left there with MacRonald of "D" to operate the 
switchboard. Air alarms kept their hands full. It was Gallo's duty on such 
occasions to call up different officers to have them put out all lights. At 
one time an officer resented the instructions. 

"Who are you?" he demanded. 

"This is the Chief Operator. I am instructed to have that light put out," 
said Gallo. 

"Well, who in h — - gave you those instructions?" from the officer. 

"The Commanding General, sir. Just a moment, I will connect you with 
him." 

"No, no, never mind, I'll put the d— - light out," and up went the 
receiver. Resourcefulness was one of the main qualities required of an 
operator. Later the same man, Gallo, was commended by the Chief Signal 
Officer for this trait during a German raid while at his post in a Radio 
Intelligence dugout. 



78 



THE FIRST BATTALION 




"Bill" Britain's crowd 
was still working in the 
Bourmont area, and one 
morning as the men were 
lined up for reveille Zep- 
pelins were sighted over- 
head. Later in the day 
several of the officers were 
in Langres to confer with 
the Second Battalion offi- 
cers and heard of the 

capture of the Zeppelins. Bourmont 

Noting that one had come down at not a great distance away, they took the 
opportunity to see it. 

The impression gained from the sight of the Zeppelin was such that the 
entire Battalion was given a holiday so that all could see it. The men had 
been working hard, and eagerly seized the opportunity for this little excur- 
sion. The following day, October twenty-third, both companies set out in 
trucks. Approaching the town, they encountered travelers afoot, on bicycles, 
in carts, in automobiles, all going in the same direction. All France seemed 
to be out to see the sight. Through Bourbonne les Bains, where the smell 
of acetylene became very pronounced, they went, and up a little valley. 

All had thought of Zeppelins as being 
rather large — but this was a knockout. 
The stern was on a little hill and the 
structure spanned the valley and crossed 
a stream. There were four little pend- 
ants which seemed to be steering com- 
partments or perhaps cabins, the main 
carriage having been taken away as 
soon as the Germans were made prison- 
ers. The smell of acetylene was very 
strong. French engineers were working 
on the Zeppelin, climbing over it with 
their ropes and ladders. It was very 
much like a tableau of Gulliver and the 
Lilliputians. The souvenir hunters had 
a busy time. The French guards kept 
every one away from the machine except 
French officers ; but, for a slight consider- 
ation, they produced almost any kind 

"Gulliver and the Lilliputians" of SOUVenir. 




HARD WORK AND SOME DIVERSION 



79 




Above — Co. "E" Quarters Below — Battalion Headquarters 
AT MARNAY 



From the first, the army officers at Headquarters had been most anxious 
that another location be obtained for the Signal Battalion camp. It was 
necessary to keep this place as inconspicuous as possible, and therefore the 
presence of any great number of troops was undesirable. Although the tents 
were concealed under the trees, or camouflaged in fantastic designs, still it 
seemed desirable that the Battalion, on account of its activity with trucks 
and supplies, should seek other quarters. The weather had become extremely 
inclement, and sleeping in the tents in the middle of muddy fields and along 
shaded boulevards was anything but pleasant. About the last week in 
October, quarters were obtained in the town of Marnay, and the Battalion 
Headquarters and most of Company "E" moved to that town. A part of 
"E" Company remained at Chaumont to continue minor installations around 
General Headquarters and to take care of the maintenance work, and also 
to build a line from Chaumont to Jonchery for the Fifteenth Engineers. 
This latter, it should be noted, was the beginning of the main telephone line 
from Chaumont to Paris. Collins, with a few "E" Company men and a 



8o 



THE FIRST BATTALION 




Collins and His Detail 



detail of Engineer troops, did a job of which 
they could well be proud. By a coincidence, 
the Fifteenth Engineers were a Pittsburgh 
outfit and the building of this line was like 
an "Old Home Week" for the boys of Com- 
pany "E." 

At Marnay, Lieutenant Macfarlan found 
himself in demand to meet the ailments both 
real and imaginary of the civil population. 
It was reported that, in addition to the 
thanks which he earned, the doctor was 
rewarded for his skillful professional services 
by having six French infants named for 
him. He did a lot of splendid work among 
these poor people who, on account of the 
war, had been without a village doctor for 
many months. 

The "Little Captain," as Wattles was 
affectionately called, was running Signal 
affairs around Neufchateau so smoothly that few outside of "D" Com- 
pany's happy family knew what was being accomplished. The line run- 
ning south from Neufchateau developed quickly into the heaviest lead 
which had been built. In addition to the Chaumont trunk, it carried the 
trunk to Gondrecourt and the trunks leading south toward the Second 
Division Headquarters at Bourmont. 

On October twenty-eighth the Chaumont-Langres line was completed, 
the union with the work of the Second Battalion having been made a short 
distance north of Humes. The men had worked steadily and cheerfully, 
sometimes through long spells of anything but cheerful weather. For diver- 
sion, entertainments were arranged for Hallowe'en. At Neufchateau, Com- 
pany "D" arranged for a regular old-fashioned party in their comfortable 
barracks. Most of the entertainment consisted of music, and Banholzer with 
his mouth organ made a hit. Second to "Banzy" was the kitchen quartet, 
led by the mess sergeant. During the entertainment there was a generous 
distribution of apples, raisins and nuts. It was a right merry party. 

Battalion Headquarters and Company "E" appointed Bradford and 
Hackett as a committee to arrange for a place for their entertainment. At 
first the Mayor of Marnay was consulted, but the town hall was small and 
the Mayor gathered the impression that he was to be called upon for a speech. 
This was not on the program so the committee sought quarters elsewhere, 
determining finally upon the little Inn at Foulain. By the use of trucks, 
the various groups were collected from Chaumont and Marnay and brought 



HARD WORK AND SOME DIVERSION 8] 









m 






^^ 








Building the Line Toward Langres 

to the Inn through the clear, cold, moonlit night. In the dimly lighted 
dining room of the Inn there was an old piano and, despite the fact that 
there were several keys missing and the instrument was decidedly out of 
tune, it furnished a great deal of entertainment. The famous Antilles 
quartet again was in evidence. Smith and Atwood, two of the telegraph 
operators, brought down the crowd with a Jewish comedy. The roars of 
laughter soon attracted a number of French soldiers who joined in the merri- 
ment. There was boxing which produced several black eyes. Late that night 
the trucks carried a crowd of happy men back to their quarters. 




Chapter IX 
7 Vi a n k sg iv ing 

THE novelty of service in a foreign land gradually had worn off. 
Hours had been long, and the work hard. Nor was there the excite- 
ment of booming guns and dropping shells to stimulate the interest. 
The camp life far from home and friends, and the pressure under which 
each assignment was rushed through, did not tend to lighten the labors. 
The excursion to the fallen Zeppelin had been planned so that the men 
might see and feel the closeness of the conflict. It gave them a realization 
that somewhere, not far away, bullets were flying and men were dying in 
the cause which brought the Battalion to France. 

A couple of days' rest and the Hallowe'en celebration put new "pep" in 
the Battalion and when, on November first, orders were received for a direct 
pole line from Langres to Neufchateau, the dirt was flying in short order. 
It was All-Saints Day. As the work started church bells were ringing and 
all day the French were continually marching to and from the different 
church services. 

This new line was to connect large Army Stores soon to be established 
at the two terminals, and its construction was necessary to relieve the con- 
gestion on the lines through Chaumont. Part of Company "D" was assigned 
to the Neufchateau end and the Company "E," Luzy platoon, started at 



THANKSGIVING 



83 



the Langres end being now billeted at Frecourt. So rapidly did the work 
progress that the construction men were frequently held back because they 
worked faster than the surveys could be made. Interruptions for more 
urgent work frequently broke in on the construction of this line and, as a 
matter of fact, the First Battalion had to leave it entirely before it was 
completed. 

About this time, a decided shake-up in the official family took place. 
Major Hubbell and Captain Gauss were transferred to General Headquarters, 
where the former took charge of the engineering work under the Chief Signal 
Officer and the latter of the maintenance of all Headquarters telephone equip- 
ment and, with Captain Glaspey, took care of the constant additions and 
changes in the Headquarters telephone system. Captain Wattles took com- 
mand of the Battalion, and Lieutenant Griest was taken from his Frecourt 
platoon to command Company ''D" at Neuf chateau. Lieutenant Suddath 
took 1! E" Company, and Lieutenant Meigs returned to his first love — the 
Supply Office. Lieutenant Smith, formerly of the Regular Army, who had 
recently joined the Battalion, was made Adjutant. 

This made the official organization as follows : 

Capt. Wattles — Commanding 

Supply Medical 

1st Lieut. Meigs 1st Lieut. Macfarlan 
Supply Officer Medical Officer 

Company "E" 

1st Lieut. Suddath 

Commanding 



Headquarters 

1st Lieut. Smith 

Adjutant 

Company "D" 

1st Lieut. Griest 

Commanding 



Those of Company "D" not engaged on the trunk line were on Divisional 
Areas work. American troops were arriving much more rapidly than was at 
first expected. This was fortunate for the situation as a whole, but it kept 




The Frecourt Detail and Barracks 



8 4 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



the men of the Battalion on the jump. When the advance details from the 
Divisions arranged with the Signal Corps for the telephone equipment, it was 
easy to obtain comfortable billets for the Signal men but as the signal work 
neared completion, the warm welcome quickly cooled. 




"Hotel de Ville" at Vaucouleurs 



When the detail which had been assigned to provide telephones for the 
Second Division at Bourmont completed the job, orders were received to 
prepare the Vaucouleurs area for the Forty-second Division. Immediately, 
Brittain with his platoon moved to that town. Division Headquarters was 
to be established in the Hotel de Ville, which contained a number of beautiful 
statues. The citizens had carefully fitted all the statuary with paper fig leaves, 
so as not to shock the modesty of the "shrinking violets" from America. 

"Dad" Murdaugh built a distributing frame in the loft of this building, 
while Ed Hannam installed and then operated the switchboard until it could 
be taken over by the Division. Leading over to the railroad along which 
the main trunks ran, a homemade cable of twenty-five pairs of ordinary 
insulated wire was strung. Tritle was the leader in the wall-scaling job of 
festooning this cable to the French house fixtures. Ladders were at a premium 
and Safety Superintendent John Bailey, could he have seen and heard these 
men as they stood on the tops of shutters, narrow window ledges, and other 
points of questionable safety, would have realized that his lessons, although 
not followed, had at least been learned. 

The various activities were carrying the men nearer and nearer to the 
actual fighting. The Vaucouleurs platoon, particularly, being some thirty 
kilometers north of Neufchateau, felt the proximity of the Hun. The boom 



THANKSGIVING 



8< 



of the big guns was heard continually. Now, for the first time, the Battalion 
made the acquaintance of gas masks and helmets. Enemy airplanes were 
a common sight, sometimes dropping messages such as, "You are our com- 
rades and, now that Russia and Italy are beaten, let us join together and 
beat our common enemy — England." 

While the Vaucouleurs area was being wired, it was necessary to build 
a line back toward General Headquarters. For a few days service over the 
French lines was attempted, but life was too short to spend two or three 
hours obtaining a connection. The quickest plan was again to use the rail- 
road poles, and permission was obtained from the French to attach brackets 
and crossarms. Brittain's crowd ran the circuit south from Vaucouleurs, 
while "Vic" Hasskarl, with his platoon, worked north from Neufchateau. 
Work on this line progressed satisfactorily despite a celebration caused by 
a letter announcing the arrival of an additional member of the Daniels family. 
The trunks were completed three days prior to the date requested by General 
Headquarters. 

In the larger centers, like Chaumont and Neufchateau, Y. M. C. A. huts 
were well organized. As officers were not at all welcome in these huts, the 
French and American officers organized a club of their own at Neufchateau. 
The French Mission built the 

shack designed by a famous /^" /" 

Parisian architect, who was 
in an engineers' regiment, 
and the "Club Lafayette" 
was opened with a party 
November eighth. A splen- 
did concert was rendered by 
an orchestra composed of 
French soldiers. Two French 
Generals and an American 
General spoke, all expressing 
joy at the good feeling exist- 
ing among the Allies. 

Upon the arrival of a cargo of Signal Corps supplies, it was decided to 
string additional wires on the new line from Vaucouleurs to Neufchateau, 
making necessary more circuits between Chaumont and Neufchateau. All 
who could be spared from the other work were immediately started on 
the latter job. Company "D," less the platoon remaining at Vaucouleurs, 
started south from Neufchateau while "E," less the detachment still working 
on the Langres-Neufchateau line at Frecourt, started north from Chaumont, 
Great was the enthusiasm among the men, because they now had real 
American materials, and enough wire reels to enable them to do an intelligent 



%Sk T ^rJ 




Gas Masks and Helmets 



86 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



and efficient job. Certain developments, however, required that the circuits 
be completed considerably earlier than was at first anticipated; and regard- 
less of weather, the gangs worked from daylight until dark. 

The new circuits progressed so rapidly that it was decided that the time 
for real Thanksgiving Day festivities could be spared, and every one entered 
enthusiastically into the preparations for the holiday. The Headquarters 
and Supply Detachments this time decided that they would have a party 
of their own, which was to be a boar hunt. Early in the morning they set 
out and scoured the woods with their large supply of firearms, consisting of 
one shot-gun and a half-dozen automatic pistols. A signal of five blasts 

on a whistle had been selected to assemble 
the party to help drag out the game. During 
the morning's hunt one shot was fired at what 
was supposed to have been a wild turkey. 
Whether it was or not no one will ever know. 
In the afternoon the game was more active, 
or perhaps the imaginations more acute, as 
there were a number of shots fired. But the 
"five blasts on the whistle" were not heard. 
The boars had a fine day. 

"E" Company's celebration consisted of 
a banquet at Marnay, where the entire com- 
pany had assembled while Company "D" 
collected most of its force at Neufchateau 
for a similar affair. The Army had made an 
earnest effort to provide all of the com- 
ponent parts of a real Thanksgiving Day 
dinner for the troops. A generous supply of 
turkeys arrived, but the mincemeat, cranber- 
ries and other "fixin's" failed. Here, for the 
first time, the company mess funds, which had been contributed by the employees 
of the Telephone Company, were brought into action. Very real was the feel- 
ing of appreciation toward those friends who, by providing these funds, enabled 
the soldiers to enjoy an old-fashioned Thanksgiving Dinner. Dailey's part 
in Company "D's" dinner will not be forgotten. He had been at Vaucouleurs 
with Brittain's platoon, and while there had made for the Division Quarter- 
master so many cranberry pies and other Army dainties (the materials, how- 
ever, furnished by the Quartermaster), that when Thanksgiving Day ap- 
proached he was given permission to help himself to any supplies he needed 
for his own "gang." As a result, liberal quantities of cranberries, sugar and 
flour helped to make the "D" dinner one long to be remembered. 

About two o'clock on the afternoon of December fourth the new circuits 




Between Neufchateau and Vaucouleurs 



THANKSGIVING 



87 



were finished. When Captain Wattles and Lieutenant Griest made the report 
to General Russell at General Headquarters, Major Hubbell being away, the 
General congratulated them on the speed of construction and on the clear 
transmission, stating that they were the most satisfactory lines over which 
he had talked since leaving the United States. 

Supply Officer Meigs' greatest trouble at this time was in securing tires 
for the trucks and other cars. Countless thousands of French soldiers with 
their hob-nailed shoes were continually marching along the roads. Hob-nails 
coming loose from the shoes literally covered the road, and the Lieutenant 
found that hob-nails and rubber tires make a poor combination. He haunted 
the Quartermaster's office begging and pleading for tires, but with little 
success. Upon one occasion, the Supply Officer learned from one of his 
friends in the Quartermaster's Office of the arrival of a carload of American 
tires and tubes. It was intimated that if Lieutenant Meigs could reach this 



m&>- ■ 




Between Chaumont and Neufchateau 



car and absorb some of its contents, he might be able to get away with it. 
He knew there was such a demand for tires at Headquarters that, if the tires 
reached the warehouse, there was little chance of any getting to the Battalion. 
The Lieutenant, with Gardiner, located the freight car, found it open and 
filled with a fairyland of tires and tubes. An apparently very accommodating 
Marine came up and asked the Lieutenant if he might be of assistance. While 
Gardiner went up the road after the truck, Lieutenant Meigs and the Marine 
were unloading the car. But the seemingly friendly Marine happened to be 
a guard, and had his schedule so nicely arranged that a detail arrived and 
caught the Supply Officer red-handed. It seemed that there had been a great 
deal of trouble from "volunteer" Quartermaster detachments which had been 
helping themselves to supplies. Lieutenant Meigs, by some means or other — 
nobody has ever solved the puzzle — so hypnotized the captors that they let 
him go. He admitted, however, that it took all of his eloquence and suavity 
and tact to turn the trick. Later when the Supply Officer was telling the 
story, he was asked: 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



'But what about the tires? Did you get away with them?" 



'H- 



, yes!" was the answer. 

The main trunks to Vaucouleurs had been completed for several days, 

and the permanent lines to Morlancourt, Bovee and other isolated towns in 

this area were rapidly nearing completion. Suddenly a conference of French 

officials was called, and word sent to the Chief Signal Officer that the American 



Right-of-way Permit 



HEADQUARTERS AMERICA* EXPELMTIOnARX FORCES 

AUTOKlSLTIOS DOHBBZ AU SIGNAL CORPS IE I'ARIABB AKEMlAIUK 
PE OOHSTRDTRE ET DE iiAlHTESI} Eli BOS ETAT J11E LICBK IEL8- 
OlAi fl/JOT ET TELEFttOflliJOE A TRAVERS LA VILLE LB 



DAILY COMPLETION REPORT 


COMPANY" BATTALION 0*T8 , 101 


LOCATION tOEF-l \ NAME Of ItOAO 


F.O. 








'«■ .............. 




Diking Data 


Material' Placeo 




HO OF HOLES 


■«U» 




CLASS OF MATERIAL. 


«o"nt 


DIRT 







CKOSSARHS Ho-oiapia _. ,. No u( 10 Bin 




1>I (IT 




GAINS CUT 




' MAHaliV SOIL 






TIlKnt'lill DOLtS 


tiu 










HOCK 
U tat ud tboTtl 














HOCK 
I.IoaxI drill and djniml" 






BRACKETS 


m. 








mm riiura 

TO K--.ii.ro. 

HOUSES Pliud 


.... 






PAVEMENT 
Si.ItH.lu, «lt 








.... 






TOTALS 








INSULATORS 


.,,. 








Poles Placed 


WIHE. Uir* 










.«. 


— 


— 


WIRE, Oxcnd 


.... 








r." 


ANCHORS 


„,. 




a 














Lb. Slnux) 


Hid 












Iron wire 


HI 








CUVS, HEAD 


Lb Sta... 


K* 








Iron -.« 


KH 












TOTALS 


1 






LABOR EMPLOYED 




v. a»at | •JIN 




1 


"~;..:;":-:x:=x:"Z 








S.C.Ui Ctf,C 



J- B"Jj: ( .l,n^ 




Ajbaf loolne \ < 

i ,u.. A tiATero 1* Buadlti 



_ lro do la illlo 
pv .4 pr/seato 

lse lo i.'iial Oorpa le l'lrnoo 

HCno to^i»eTa;.Illqilo ot tolopbW 
lie, at X Is DAloteolr so boo. 



( Tolnotn \UfU>WllUt*^. f Slgnntul-e )_ 



Form Used to Report Each Day's Work 



crossarms on the Vaucouleurs line must be immediately removed. It was 
claimed that they weakened the poles. General Russell, desiring to do every- 
thing he could to cooperate with the French, ordered that a new line be built 
at once and the wishes of the French carried out. After a few more confer- 
ences, however, the idea of a new line was abandoned, and the old circuits 
were retained. One of the difficulties frequently encountered was this lack 
of coordination between the various French departments. General Head- 
quarters would obtain permission, through the French Mission, from the 
higher French authorities for doing certain work. About the time the work 



THANKSGIVING 



8 9 



was started, a local "Chef de Section" would send for the commander and 
order it stopped because he had no knowledge of any permission having been 
given. Sometimes it would take a week or more to get the various authorities 
together but, in the meantime, the work under one ruse or another was 
usually continued, so that the conferences interfered little with the actual 
construction. 

About the time that all of the wiring required in the Vaucouleurs area 
was completed and troops were arriving in large numbers, the French ordered 
the area vacated by the Americans so it might be occupied by them as an 
area for rcpos. It was not pleasant thus to have the satisfaction of work 
accomplished snatched away. But right here the men of the Battalion 
learned a lesson which, often later, stood them in good stead. Many times 
the results of hard, grueling labor were lost as soon as the work was done. 
"C'est la guerre." And the men realized that they were not in France to 
build telephone lines only. They were there to do their share in wiping out 
the menace of a Hun victory. 

The Forty- second Division was 
transferred from Vaucouleurs to 
Rolampont, the trip being made on 
foot. "E" Company had its first 
experience in Divisional Areas work 
in the installation of the' lines re- 
quired for training in that area. It 
was during the hike of the Forty- 
second that certain weary stragglers 
from that Division stopped at "E" 
Company's Frecourt camp and, hav- 
ing been well fed, were tucked away 
for the night. As a mark of their 

gratitude, these men on their departure the next morning, presented to Cook 
Johnson a pup of doubtful parentage which they had been taking with them 
as a mascot. This was the famous "Hardtack"— the only Battalion mascot 
which survived to return to America with the organization. 




"Hardtack' 




HEADQUARTERS, 1ST TELEGRAPH BATTALION, S.C. . U.S. R. 
A. =:.?., PRANCE. 

Dp"' 

;,:kmoraitduh to company and detac»»'- ^ii* *' vV , V* 

•oft **-tr ,. «***' 

1. General (>•» qCI^ /«■,.?• • y ) tl 

two ider>+- o-v^ Sl P 



Chapter X 
Loj - / — ^ Perfectly Good Name 

EVERY man in the Army is proud of the particular organization to which 
he is attached. This feeling is well exemplified in the English Army, where 
regimental names have come down from the Middle Ages. A man "joins 
up" with an organization which has had a continuous existence for centuries, 
and his pride in his regiment is secondary only to his love for his country. 

The Battalion, while less than a year old, had been "first" in so many 
things that its members had a very sentimental attachment for the title 
"First." It was the first Signal Reserve Battalion recruited. The men were 
proud of the fact and were very well satisfied that it was boldly displayed in 
the name of the organization. 

However, the War Department could pay little attention to sentiment. 
It was found necessary with the growth of the National Army to renumber the 
Telegraph Battalions. Thus the First lost its old name, and from December, 
1917, it was known officially as the 406th Telegraph Battalion, Signal Corps. 
This change well nigh broke the hearts of the men. 

And back home the former fellow workers in the Telephone Company 
heard of the change with anything but pleasure. But it was war time and 
personal feelings had to be subordinated to the success of the cause. Although 
known from this time on as the 406th, in the hearts of those who were inti- 
mately associated with it and who were so deeply interested in its welfare, 
it will always be the First Telegraph Battalion. 



LOST— A PERFECTLY GOOD NAME 91 

General Headquarters grew rapidly. The small switchboard soon became 
inadequate and a larger one was necessary. New equipment consisting of a 
four- section switchboard was ordered. When received, some of the best 
installers from the two companies of the 406th were collected for this job — 
Heilser, Craigmile and Hannam of "D," with Gaghagen, Mumford and Bailey 
of "E." Day and night, with scarcely a rest, they rushed the work. All of the 
blueprints and instructions were in French, but the circuits were so complex 
that even the French representative from the Postes et Telegraphcs was un- 
able to puzzle them out. Captain Glaspey's assistance with his knowledge 
of French was invaluable. Mumford was in charge and it was he who directed 
and completed the wiring of the switchboard. This installation was one of 
the most important pieces of work done by the Battalion. All of the officers 
at Headquarters were necessarily exacting in their demands for service. The 
original boards were hopelessly overloaded, and every one in the Chief Signal 
Officer's office was most anxious for the completion of the new installation. 
Captain Paddock from the Signal office kept in close touch with the work. 

Switchboard operating was ever becoming more important. None of the 
men had any training or experience in this branch of signal work, but those 
who were put at the boards jumped in like old timers. In addition to the 
operating, these men were compelled to pick up enough French to enable 
them to carry on necessary business over the French circuits. Sergeant 
Ouinby came back to help for a time. Theriot, the only operator familiar 
with French, did what he could to impart some of his knowledge to Koser, 
Roache, Ross, Reid, Thompson, Grimm and the others who were operating. 
Further to organize the job of switchboard operating, Farrington was taken 
from "D" Company and stationed at Chaumont, where he brought into 
play, in the training of the operators and the handling of calls, all of the experi- 
ence he had gained during his traffic work with the Telephone Company at 
home. Gaghagen continued as Wire Chief of this office, assisted by Bailey 
and 0. H. McKinney, and Morcom was responsible for the maintenance of 
the twenty-five kilowatt lighting plant. 

The Headquarters telephone exchange building was warm and comfortable, 
but the sleeping quarters, where the headquarters details lived, were not so 
pleasant. The unlined wood buildings with dirt floors contained no stoves 
of any kind, and their inhabitants occupied them only long enough to sleep — ■ 
crawling under their blankets fully dressed, even to the winter caps and gloves. 
Recreation time was spent in the Y. M. C. A. hut, or in such entertainment 
as the city of Chaumont could afford. One evening Grimm, Williams, Rich- 
ards and Henk became so interested in the French cinema that they were 
oblivious of the flight of time and, on their way to their "cold storage" bar- 
racks, were arrested by the Marine guard for being on the streets after "taps." 
The Provost Marshal directed that the offenders be escorted to the French 



THE FIRST BATTALION 




1 — Quarters, 2 — First Switchboard, 3 — Outside Construction, 4 — Later Installation. 
TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT 



prison and, after a night in a cold musty cell and a prison breakfast, the 
devotees of the cinema were sentenced to the task of digging graves. 

Again Captain Wattles was called upon to give up an officer. This time 
Lieutenant Lawrence left and was made Signal Officer in London, where he 
gained a Captaincy and later, as Major, became Signal Officer of one of the 
Base Ports in France. This left the Battalion very short of officers. The 
shortage in "D" was, however, relieved when late in December Hasskarl 
and Price were commissioned Second Lieutenants. The knowledge and 
reliability of the noncommissioned personnel to a large extent overcame the 
handicap caused by the shortage of officers which so frequently existed with 
this organization. But the "non corns" could not help their commanders in 
that bane of an officer's existence — censoring mail. It took hours each evening 
to go over the letters the men had written the night before. 

With the organization of the Transportation Department of the Expedi- 
tionary Forces came another big job. The artillery barracks at the south end 



LOST— A PERFECTLY GOOD NAME 93 

of Chaumont were wired for this department and switchboards were installed. 
At the same time telephone equipment was provided for the Roosevelt Hospital 
located in the same barracks. To connect these switchboards to General 
Headquarters, a line was built through the town. In the minds of the old 
construction men, this was the crookedest line on which they had ever worked. 
Of the seventy poles only ten were in a straight line. The other sixty 
were "corners," and each required a guy wire. Russell looked after the instal- 
lation of the several thousand feet of aerial cable required. As was frequently 
the case, many French signal men were around observing the work, and they 
were especially interested in the erection of poles by the American method. 
The French method is to dig a hole with a trench leading down to the bottom 
of it. The lower end of the pole is then "eased" down the incline. The 
American method is simply to raise the top of the pole by the use of "pikes" 
and let the "butt" drop into the hole dug to receive it. 

The establishment of an artillery training school at Fort de Pagny, with 
a range of approximately three by six kilometers, required extensive wiring, 
and Sergeant Collins was sent, with a detail, to do the work. Several of the 
circuits were to be run to sentinel posts around the range. During artillery 
practice all persons could thus be warned by telephone to keep out of the 
danger zone. A detail of artillerymen was assigned to help Collins carry the 
materials through the woods and also to assist in stringing the circuits across 
a lake, which required a two thousand foot span of wire. Every effort was 
made to complete the installation before the date set for a review. The date 
for the review however, was advanced one day without Collins being notified, 
and on January ninth, while the men were installing the last station on the 
range, a creeping machine gun barrage, as a feature of the review, was started 
over the heads of the installers. Collins, with Custer and Schmitt, ducked for 
a group of large trees. The firing continued from one until four o'clock, with 
the trio shivering in the snow behind sheltering trees. They admitted after- 
ward that it was not a pleasant nor restful three hours. 

The problem of keeping the equipment in repair increased in proportion 
as the lines and switchboards grew in size and number. The work became so 
heavy that instructions were issued at General Headquarters dividing the 
responsibilities. To the First Battalion, or rather the "406th," was assigned 
the maintenance of the Headquarters of Divisions and of the lines north of 
Langres. Lines in the Divisional Areas, except the trunks leading back to 
Headquarters, were to be maintained by the Divisions as soon as the Division 
signal troops arrived. However, signal troops were frequently the last to 
join the division, and it was necessary in such cases for the 406th to lend 
details for operation and maintenance. 

One cold night in December, a faint voice reported to Neufchateau from 
Chaumont over the French lines that all of the American circuits were out of 



94 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



crc.s.o. m» no 2a»->i/' 

HEADQUARTERS AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES, 
OFFICE OF THE CHIEF SIGNAL OFFICER. 

Dsaember 1", 1917. 



service. This brought memories of "breaks" back home, of times when late 

at night these very men had rushed out through sleet and rain and snow to 

restore the service. While the sections were being assembled and the trucks 

made ready for operation (during this freezing weather, radiators were drained 

each night), tests from the Neuf chateau exchange showed that the lines to 

Gondrecourt were all 

right but neither 

Chaumont nor Ba- 

zoilles could be 

reached. When the 

trucks were ready, 

two sections started 

cautiously down the 

road, no lights being 

allowed. 

Upon arriving at 
the railroad bridge 
over the highway (the 
Route Nationalc) the 
trouble was apparent. 
A freight train had 
become derailed and 
several cars, breaking 
the iron railing, had 
fallen from the bridge, 



To ! 

Subject : 



Office Chief signal Ofricei , A. E. F. 
Cosroanding Officer, *Ooth Telegraph riattalloi 
Commendation for prompt clearing of tMjble i 



Chauaont-nei'fchateau line. 



1, on December 11, 1917. en entire section of the chaunont- 
"eufohateau le..d was broken down by three derailed freight core 
falling over t'.t lino from the railroad bridge Juet west of fleuf- 
ohateae, Thle trouble was reported to "U" Company of ;-^jr battilt'n 
at 6:59 P» m. and the service Was re-established by then at 8:30 p.m. 

2. That this was accomplished in so short a time desplts the 
darkness reflecte great credit en your command and cenerul Huesel 
wishes you to express his appreciation to the officers \nd nen who 
performed thin doty in euch a very creditable manner. 

By direction: 

n. a. itjbreij., 

Major. S.C., D.S.R. 
' let lad. 

-elethlSi. 5£: 5.;: "■*■■ " ec ' lbtu - 1917 - *• c -°- «•• " B " 



By orler 01 remain l.'ott 



F.P. KelgEf 
let Lieut., S.C.U.S.R. 
Adjutant. 



JS* 




The "break" on the Route Nationale 

cutting in their descent all of the 
wires which passed beneath it. Excited Frenchmen ran hither and thither 
with dimmed lanterns, and French soldiers formed a cordon across the road, 
and would allow no one near the wreck. In what French Lieutenant Griest 
could muster, he explained that at such a time rules meant nothing to the 
Signal Corps, and the guards were forced to give way. By climbing over the 
wreckage, the tangle of wires was quickly cut away, linemen using handflash 
lamps tied to their caps. Temporary lengths of wire were used to repair the 



LOST— J P ERFECTLY GOOD NAME 95 

damaged circuits. All of the lines were working within an hour and a half from 
the time the report was received in the barracks. 

On the following morning this incident was reported to Major Hubbell. 
He mentioned to General Russell that the service had been interrupted the 
evening before and had been reestablished at 8:30. 

"You mean 8:30 this morning?" the General asked. When assured that 
the circuits were cleared at 8 130 the evening before, the General directed that a 
letter of commendation be addressed to the Battalion. 

A let-up in the training area work gave Company "D" an opportunity to 
work on the line leading south from Neuf chateau toward Langres, "E" Com- 
pany having been working steadily on the lower end of this line with Frecourt 
still as a base. The soil around Neuf chateau was extremely rocky. Following 
the highway to Langres would have required a great number of holes in almost 
solid rock, which would have been a simple matter with pneumatic drills, but 
drilling by hand was almost out of the question. 

The first five kilometers of the line were almost inaccessible from the high- 
ways, and it seemed much better to distribute material from the railroad than 
to attempt the distribution from the highways. Lieutenant Shirley Price 
had an interesting time on this job. There were delays in getting permission 
for a special train, and delays in getting the train started after it was loaded. 
In time, however, it did get started, and the poles, crossarms and other 
equipment were delivered along the route from the moving train. 

While the material was being delivered, the construction men hiked along 
the railway to the spots where they were to dig the holes. Fearing that the 
ground might soon become frozen and stay so for the winter, every effort 
was spent on completing the holes, leaving the erection of the poles until the 
digging was finished. This decision proved an unfortunate one. Other work 
of a more urgent nature was required before the poles could be set and work 
on the railway abandoned for several weeks. When, in February, the line 
was tackled again, most of the holes had become filled by the rains and thaws. 
Much of the work had to be repeated. 

During December the 406th was again called upon for a man to go to 
another branch of the Army. Just as Christmas plans were being talked over, 
Sergeant Bradford, who had been of inestimable help throughout the formation 
of the Battalion and who, in France, had run headquarters affairs in such a way 
that the Battalion commander was required to give little thought to that end 
of the work, was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Adjutant General's 
Department, and assigned to the First Division for a period of training. Later 
he was detailed with General March at Camp Valdahon and joined the 42nd 
or "Rainbow" Division in February. Bradford continued with the 42nd 
throughout the war and while it was in Germany as a part of the "Army of 
Occupation," returning to America in May 1919, as a First Lieutenant. 




Chapter XI 



The First Christmas 



IN THE preceding pages an effort has been made to give some account of 
the work and the play, the hardships and the pleasures of the men of the 
Battalion. If the holidays seem rather prominent, it is perhaps because 
the work was of such a strenuous nature that in the minds of the men an occa- 
sional jollification stood out by contrast. 

It may not be amiss to stop a moment while plans are being made for 
celebrating the first Christmas in the A. E. F., and briefly consider what the 
men had accomplished in four months of foreign service. The most important 
piece of work perhaps was General Pershing's Headquarters at Chaumont, 
which had been equipped with complete telephone and lighting plants. These 
for some time were operated and were still being kept in repair by the Bat- 
talion. Pole lines had been built and circuits strung from a point twenty -five 
kilometers south of Chaumont, north via Headquarters and Neuf chateau to 
Vaucouleurs. A direct line from Langres to Neufchateau was under con- 
struction. A number of shorter lines to various training areas from Neuf- 
chateau and Chaumont had been built. In fact, the entire area surrounding 
Neufchateau was thoroughly covered by American lines. Many training 
areas had been equipped with complete telephone facilities. Much of this 
widely scattered plant had been operated and all of it kept in repair for shorter 
or longer periods by the Battalion. 

The Christmas celebration of the Battalion began back in Pennsylvania. 

96 



THE FIRST CHRISTMAS 



97 



At Mr. Kinnard's suggestion, seconded by practically every employee of the 
Company, boxes were placed in the various offices of the Company, into which 
all who desired might deposit money for the purpose of sending Christmas 
boxes to the men overseas. The limit was a quarter from any one person. 

When the money was all gathered in Mr. Wisse's office (he was Treasurer 
of the committee in charge of the fund), it was found to total $1,543.00. Not 
only the men in the Signal Battalions, but every "mother's son" who had 
entered the service from the Bell organization, was to receive a Christmas 
box. "Raw" materials, consisting of tobacco, cigarettes, plum pudding, jelly, 
gum, chocolate, tooth brushes, soap, nuts, and other things which every man 
in the service could use, were purchased. 

All employees were asked to write letters to any former employee with 
whom they were acquainted and who was now in the service. The sorting of 
letters, and the packing of boxes for the six hundred and fifty men to receive 
them, turned the Bell offices topsy turvy for weeks. All of the boxes. with 
their packets of letters attached were dispatched in plenty of time to reach the 
men — provided submarine or other disaster was not met — before the holidays. 

The thought of Christmas away from home is never pleasant. Separation 
from home ties by several thousand miles of ocean adds nothing to the joy of 
the season. Being part of an Army in war time, and little knowing what the 
future holds forth — how soon, if ever, there will be an opportunity to get into 
the thick of it, instead of 
everlastingly digging 
holes, raising poles and 
stringing wire — it would 
seem that such thoughts 
would make Christmas, 
191 7, for the members of 
the 406th Telegraph Bat- 
talion a day of indigo hue. 

But such was not the 
case. Committees were 
appointed early in the 
month and preparations 
started for having rousing 

parties on Christmas Day. The boxes had been arriving, not only for the 
men who had formerly been employees, but also for those transferred to 
the Battalion from other organizations. A real job it was to restrain the 
impulse to take "just one peep" into the boxes before Christmas Day. 

On the day before Christmas, those who could get away scoured the woods 
in the neighborhood of the camps and returned with evergreen boughs and 
huge branches of mistletoe. The mess halls took on a Christmas air. The 




Contents of a Christmas Box 



9 8 



THE FIRST BATTALION 




1 — Bugler Fest Calls Co. "E" 2— Ready for the Attack 3— Christmas in Marnay 



section chiefs and sergeants volunteered for "K. P." duty, and the entire night 
before Christmas was spent in roasting the turkeys and baking innumerable 
pies. The mess fund boxes received at Union League were again tapped, as 
the Quartermaster was unable to supply what the men thought was a sufficient 
supply of turkey and trimmings for a real Christmas dinner. 

The Christmas was far from a selfish one. Early in the morning Company 
"E" gave a party for about forty children at Marnay. A regular American 
Christmas tree was set up in the schoolhouse. It was covered with toys and 
other presents on a background of snow, the latter probably from the stores 
of cotton in Lieutenant Macfarlan's dispensary. The ceremonies opened 
with two set speeches by the youngsters, who thanked the Americans for this 
first real Christmas since the war started. Presents were distributed — there 
were enough for two "rounds" — and there was considerably more noise with 
tin horns and rattles than the room could comfortably hold. The people of 
Marnay seemed unable to express fully their gratitude for the kindly thought- 
fulness of the men of Company "E." 



THE FIRST CHRI STM/iS 



99 



Lieutenant Suddath collected all of his company at Marnay, work being 
suspended both by the Frecourt detachment, which was pushing the Langres- 
Neufchateau line northward, and by Lieutenant Foust's crews, who were on 
the big job in the Chaumont artillery barracks. Those who could be spared 
from the exchanges at General Headquarters and Langres also wended their 
way toward Marnay, and at noon Company "E," with the Battalion Head- 
quarters Detachments, assembled in the little mess room. Evergreen and 
lanterns covered walls and ceilings and the white tables were strewn with 
fruit and nuts and "smokes." Outside there was enough snow everywhere to 
suit the most exacting requirements. Vance, who was still handling Company 
"E's" mess, produced the meal of his life, and for three solid hours that crowd 
of healthy soldiers stuffed away a seemingly endless supply of turkey and cran- 
berries, sweet potatoes and pies. As the enthusiasm for food subsided, 
speeches and songs held 
sway well into the evening. 

Company "D" gath- 
ered at Neufchateau. 
The Battalion officers were 
invited to dine with Com- 
pany "D," and Major 
Hubbell, now at General 
Headquarters, was in- 
cluded in the party. Just 
about the time for dinner, 
the Chaumont detach- 
ments arrived, bringing 
with them a large batch of 
mail, which did not in the 

least detract from the party. Unfortunately, early on that fine snowy 
morning, Carlson had to go to the hospital, there to spend a dismal Christ- 
mas with a case of measles. 

As an innovation, the sergeants had volunteered to act as waiters, and a 
busy time they had. After appetites were appeased, a letter of greeting from 
Mr. Kinnard was read, and it brought forth wild cheers. Lieutenant Hass- 
karl had been appointed Chief Cook, and this overheated officer was dragged 
forth from the kitchen by Master of Ceremonies Brittain to make a bow and 
receive a round of hearty applause. A detail from the ioist Infantry band 
furnished music for the occasion, and the quality of the music may be judged 
from the fact that the leader had formerly been an assistant director of the 
Boston Symphony Orchestra. Lutz and Murdaugh had visited a cafe at 
Liffol le Grande and borrowed a mechanical piano of ancient lineage, and to 
make the party complete, there was a real piano which Thevelin had borrowed 




Co. "D" at Neufchateau 



ioo THE FIRST BATTALION 

from a neighbor. Murdaugh sat on the mechanical piano to hold it down while 
Dobbie turned the crank. Before the celebration ended the children from the 
neighborhood were invited into the barracks to see the decorations and in- 
cidentally to strip the tree of its trimmings. 

The first Christmas in the American Expeditionary Forces was a thing of 
the past. Was it a success? If noise and laughter is a criterion, the answer 
must be decidedly in the affirmative. Was there any homesickness? If there 
was, it was carefully concealed behind smiling countenances. Deep down in 
the hearts of all was a feeling that although they were far from home, the 
people back in the "States" were thinking of them, and missing them just as 
much and perhaps more, than they themselves missed the home ties. 




Chapter XII 



Nearing the Battle Lint 



D 



^URING the Autumn of 191 7 many telephone and telegraph lines had 
been built by the various signal troops of the American forces. Early 
in the winter, as these lines spread out to take care of the arriving 
troops, plans were made at General Headquarters to coordinate, unify and 
systematize the network of wires. At Neufchateau the old Divisional Areas 
organization was supplanted by the "Advance Section, Lines of Communica- 
tion," and this later became Advance Section, Services of Supply, or "S. O. S." 
Neufchateau became increasingly important and a signal officer was 
placed there, Major Kelly being assigned to the post. He was a great big 
warm-hearted Irishman and he became very popular. There were no experi- 
enced signal men in his outfit, and he borrowed several men from the Bat- 
talion. Banholzer held down the telegraph key at Neufchateau, while other 
men from both Companies carried on the telegraph and telephone business at 
Langres. 

Major Kelly had a definiteness about his way of giving orders which showed 
that he meant business. Gallo and Drew who were in the Langres office had 
one interesting experience with the Major. The scarcity of telephone instru- 
ments made it necessary that they be installed only where absolutely neces- 
sary for war business. One evening Major Kelly happened to overhear a 
conversation from the Y. M. C. A. telephone which seemed to indicate that a 
telephone at that location was not of primary importance in licking the Hun. 



ioa THE FIRST BATTALION 

Turning toward Gallo who, with Drew, was working in the office, he asked: 

"Who put that telephone in at the 'Y'?" 

"A Field Battalion, Sir," replied Gallo. 

"Very well, as soon as you're through there, you fellows go down and yank 
it out." 

When Gallo and Drew arrived at the hut and explained their mission, the 
Y. M. C. A. worker called up Major Kelly and began: 

"This is and I am a friend of Senator — " 

"Well," interrupted the Major, "this is Major Kelly; politics don't count 
in the Army." 

Bang ! Up went his receiver. Gallo and Drew returned with the telephone. 

The headquarters of the various centers along the lines of communication 
needed many signal men for their permanent forces. It required constant 
effort to prevent the loss from the Battalion of its experienced men. Never- 
theless, Noonan and O'Brien were permanently transferred from "D" Com- 
pany and remained in the telegraph office at Paris. Keyes, the motor sergeant 
of Company "E," after establishing with the help of Schmidt and V. P. King 
the Signal Corps garage at General Headquarters, was taken from the Battalion 
and permanently assigned to the Signal Corps at Nevers. Sergeant George 
remained permanently at Chaumont in charge of the telegraph office and kept 
with him Flaherty and Kayser. At wood and Smith of "E," and McNichol 
and Parks of ' D," were permanently transferred to run a telegraph office in 
London, and Theriot, one of the best telephone operators of Company ' E," 
who spoke French fluently was taken to operate the telephone exchange at 
Versailles. Besides these men who were permanently lost there were a num- 
ber of men temporarily detached for operating telephone and telegraph offices 
and doing miscellaneous maintenance work at Chaumont, Langres and Neuf- 
chateau. 

All these losses made it necessary to secure authority from the Chief 
Signal Officer to request details from troops stationed in areas in which signal 
work was being done, to help the telephone men with their construction. At 
Morlancourt for example, a detail of Infantry with a few of Brittain's non- 
commissioned officers erected the poles which connected this town to Bovee, 
whence the wires ran on French poles through Void to Vaucouleurs. Col- 
lins as has been mentioned, constructed the line from Chaumont to Jon- 
chery with a detail of men borrowed from the Engineers and when later he 
installed the signal system at Fort de Pagny, the bulk of the labor was pro- 
vided by details from the Artillery. At Bourmont, to enable the Second 
Division to complete the installation work, Woodward with Long directed 
the new construction and maintenance required by Colonel Carr, most of the 
actual work being done by details of Marines furnished through the coopera- 
tion of Lieutenant Wood, Signal Officer of the Fifth Regiment of Marines. 



NEARING THE BATTLE LINE 



103 




The Road into Menil la Tour 



At Neuf chateau a large detail was borrowed from the 101st Signal Bat- 
talion, 26th Division. These latter came to feel that they were part of the 
406th and were loath to return to their organization when orders to that 
effect were received. 

Early in January it was decided to move the First Division toward the 
front to prepare to take over an American sector northwest of Toul. There 
was so much work to be done in organizing the sector proper that signal troops 
were required to provide lines between the new Division Headquarters at 
Menil la Tour and the American telephone lines. Company "D" was given 
the job. It was determined to provide three talking circuits and to equip the 
line also for telegraph service over the same wires. Work on the northern 
end of the Neufchateau-Langres line was immediately suspended. Lieu- 
tenant Hasskarl with his platoon was despatched to Pagny sur Meuse to 
work toward Vaucouleurs and Menil la Tour, while Lieutenant Price worked 
his platoon out of Neufchateau, rebuilding the lines to Vaucouleurs. These 
latter had been placed along the French railroad, and in a month without 
attention, except such doubtful repairs as the French made while maintaining 
their own circuits on the same poles, had depreciated to such an extent as to 
require almost entire reconstruction. The Meuse River, which was an ex- 
tremely small and innocent looking stream when the line had been built along 
the railroad in the Fall, had on account of the snows, the rains and the 



104 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



constant freezing and thawing, not only overflowed its banks but covered an 
area a mile or more in width and throughout most of the length of its 
valley. At places between Coussy and Maxey it was necessary to travel ten 
or fifteen miles in order to reach a point only a mile away. While Lieutenant 
Price was battling with the flood, Lieutenant Hasskarl and his platoon were 




The Meuse Overflows its Banks 



stringing wires along the French railroad line between Vaucouleurs and Pagny, 
and on another French pole line along the highway to Menil la Tour. The 
weather was probably the worst which was encountered throughout the whole 
bitter winter and on account of the extremely short time allowed for the 
completion of the work, construction was continued from daylight until dark 
in the snow, sleet and rain. The "eight-hour day" was a standing joke- 
eight hours before dinner and eight hours after. 

The small town of Pagny was occupied by a battalion of French artillery 
and there were few unoccupied billets, but the Zone Major did his best to 
provide for Lieutenant Hasskarl' s platoon, the first Americans to reach the 
town. A large loft and a stable were cleared and Tomlinson set up his cook 
stove to help keep the men warm. During the night the floor caught fire 
under the stove and a bucket brigade was organized which poured "beaucoup" 
water on the blaze. The floor leaked and the whole French Army — or so it 
seemed — must have been sleeping beneath and charged up to the loft to find 
out the reason for the shower. Near-French explanations were in order. 
Later in the night snow sifted through the many openings in the roof, and in 
the morning the sleepers found that in addition to their army blankets they 
were covered by a three-inch blanket of snow. But nobody complained of 
the life. Althouse made his daily trips from Neufchateau with the food and 
Tomlinson kept the fire going and furnished a plentiful supply of Indian meal 
porridge and bacon and coffee. 

Toward the end of this job the French moved many of their men out of 



N EARING THE BATTLE LINE 



ioq 



Pagny, and Lieutenant Hasskarl was able to secure what he thought were far 
superior billets. They looked comfortable. The men thought they were in 
luck. But it was only an hour or so before Tritle reached inside his shirt to 
dig around and find out what was going on in there. Then Haislop became 
uncomfortable. He seemed restless. One after another the men developed a 
general uneasiness of demeanor, and then each began digging at various parts 
of his anatomy. 

There had been cootie ' stories which had lightened many an evening in 
camp. But here was the real thing. And the humor had all gone out of the 
subject — so much so, in fact, that Lieutenant Macfarlan was given a hurry-up 
call. His detail used kerosene and boiling water to good effect. 

The circuits were finished so quickly that General Gibbs, who had taken 
a keen personal interest in the job and had 
visited Pagny frequently throughout its con- 
struction, complimented the men. The Chief 
Signal Officer, too, had been following the 
work with special interest and upon its 
completion ordered a telegram of congratu- 
lation despatched to Company "D." 

Through the winter months the linemen 
worked faithfully, rarely complaining of the 
weather, and always having in mind the ne- 
cessity of the work. But no amount of will- 
ingness and spirit and cheer on the part of 
the linemen would have produced results 
without the faithful motor sections. The 
chauffeurs, with the assistance of the shop 
gangs, kept their trucks and motorcycles in 
tip-top condition. Day after day they drove 
them along ice covered roads in snow and sleet with no other protection than 
they could improvise from half a shelter tent or a poncho. The motorcycle men 
had a particularly hard time. 

In keeping up the morale of the American forces, regularity in the mail 
service was second in importance only to food and clothing. For the 406th 
Sergeant Magill organized a daily service between Marnay and Chaumont 
and in rain or shine, snow or sleet, McKee made his trips by motorcycle over 
this route. One day, however, he collided with a truck which resulted in a 
prolonged stay in the hospital. Upon his discharge from the hospital he was 
lost to the Battalion, being transferred to another outfit. 

The flooded condition of the Meuse valley began to threaten the main pole 
line from Neufchateau to the south. The Mayor of Neufchateau had told 
the truth. The innocent little stream of the Autumn became a turbulent 




Maj. General Gibbs 




1, 3, 8 — Some of the Motor Men. 2 — Dad McCann Finds a Souvenir. 

4, 5, 6, 7 — "Look Pleasant, Please!" 



106 



NEARING THE BATTLE LINE 



ic 7 




At Montigny 



flood. Poles which had 
seemed safe in high and dry 
locations were now sur- 
rounded with six feet or more 
of swirling water carrying 
with it huge cakes of ice. 
The safety of this line was so 
threatened that a few men 
were taken from the First 
Division work to run emer- 
gency circuits along the trees 
bordering the flood. These 
circuits were so arranged 
that in case any of the poles 

fell, the new wires could be quickly placed in service. A patrol was kept on duty 
to take care of any such emergency. When the waters began to recede, human 
chains were formed and the linemen waded out to the poles to attach guys to 
those which had been most severely threatened. This work was so important, 
and so few men could be spared from the Menil la Tour line, that a call was 
sent for help, and a detachment from Frecourt, where "E" was still working 
on the Neufchateau line, was despatched to Neufchateau. These men, under 
Dickson, hurried north thinking that they were about to enter into active 
and dangerous territory. Although disappointed when they found out that 
they were still a number of kilometers from the front, they set to work guying 
all of the threatened poles to guard against the coming of another flood. To 
help with the work, Donbaugh, anxious to try his Susquehanna boatsmanship 
commandeered an old boat which had come down the stream. While he was 
standing in the craft, it became loosed from its mooring to a pole and started 
to float down the stream. The sailor-lineman reached out and grasped one 
of the circuits. The boat had gained such speed that Donbaugh, before re- 
covering from his surprise, was lifted by his hold on the wire and dropped 
unceremoniously into the flood. His companions pulled him out but the 
boat was no more. When the flood had receded sufficiently, triangular wood 
cribs were built on the up-stream side of the poles which had been most severely 
battered by ice and debris. It was with a feeling of security that the next 
flood was awaited. 

After the accident to the main trunk lines caused by the freight train jump- 
ing off the bridge south of Neufchateau, Company "D" manufactured from 
ten pairs of wire an emergency cable which was coiled on two old reels so that 
it could be placed in the middle of a break and the cable run off simultaneously 
in both directions. The period of excessive snow and rain and thaw cleared off 
suddenly on Sunday, January twentieth, with a terrific wind which seemed to 



io8 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



threaten many of the lines. The ground was so extremely soft that in many 
places poles were rocking and shortly after noon mess a call came by way of a 
French trunk, announcing that again all of the circuits to Chaumont were out 
of service. This was the first Sunday holiday observed in weeks, but every 
man in the company wanted to be assigned to the job. Only one section could 

be allowed to go, the other three to remain at 
the barracks to be ready for other troubles 
should they arise. The emergency cable was 
loaded on a truck. Beyond St. Blin it was 
discovered that a large tree had been blown 
across the wires and that Company "E" men 
from Chaumont were already on the job 
with enough material to make a temporary 
repair. Twenty minutes later the ten-wire 
line was in service again. 

Work on the upper end of the much 
delayed Neufchateau-Langres line had been 
suspended in the rush to complete the cir- 
cuits to Menil la Tour. After this latter job 
was completed, late in January, a conference 
was held in- Neuf chateau at which the relative 
importance of all of the work then in hand 
was discussed. Colonel Voris of the First 
Division, Major Kelly of the Advance Sec- 
tion, S. O. S., Major Hubbell from General 
Headquarters, with the Battalion officers 
talked over the various propositions which 
were under consideration, and it was decided 
to begin to gather the 406th Battalion 
together to care for the forward work which 
seemed imminent. About this time there 
was a rumor that the Battalion was to be 
assigned to the newly formed First Army 
Corps. 

Neufchateau was selected as Battalion 
Headquarters and those men who had not been permanently transferred 
assembled from Chaumont, Langres, Nevers and all the way back to St. 
Nazaire. Company "D" had been living in comfortable quarters in a French 
garage but gave up this space for the Headquarters and Supply Detach- 
ments. An elderly woman, Madame Garcin, the widow of a French General 
and who fifty years before had lived in America, offered her garage, which was 
across the street, for billets for the Headquarters men. This made most 




Private John J. Hollowell 



NEARING THE BATTLE LINE 



1 09 



comfortable quarters. The two Companies found other quarters in the 
town. 

While the Battalion was gathering at Neufchateau preparatory to more 
active service, a section of "E" Company remained at Montigny continuing 
its work on the Langres line, and once more Company "D" started working 
on the upper end. To add to the convenience of delivering men to the job 
a billet was obtained from the 23rd Infantry at St. Thibault and Lutz and 
Spears were despatched to that town. These men gave the billet the "once 
over" and pleaded for tents and cots which they might set up in a snow- 
covered field. Their request was granted and the tents arrived in the eve- 
ning at the end of a hard day's work. Ground was cleared and tents and 
stoves set up. The snow soon thawed within the tents but in the morning 
axes, crow-bars, hammers and chisels were brought into play to loose the 
cots, boots and shoes which were solidly frozen into the ground. 

$ $ # * % 

* 

It was at this time that the Battalion experienced its first fatal casualty. 
On February eleventh, as one of the sections was traveling to the storeroom 
at Rebeval barracks, the chain holding the 
tail gate of a truck parted, and Hollowell and 
Underwood of Company "D," fell to the 
ground. Hollowell, who had fallen on his 
head, was at once taken to the hospital 
and Underwood returned to camp. Officers 
from the Battalion went immediately to the 
hospital and found that everything possible 
was being done to care for the injured man 
who seemed to be resting comfortably. That 
night the last report was that he seemed to 
be improving. The next morning however, 
he died. Except for Major Glaspey who 
died of pneumonia in November, 191 8, this 
was the only death in the Battalion. 

Arrangements were made for a proper 
burial and on the afternoon of the thirteenth 
the entire Company formed and accom- 
panied the truck upon which was placed 
the flag-covered casket, to the little Ameri- 
can graveyard at Rouceux. 





Ho'.lowell's Grave 



* * # * * 



Early in February, Major Hubbell was relieved from duty at General 
Headquarters and ordered to rejoin the Battalion. He resumed command 
on the evening of the thirteenth and shortly afterward Captain Wattles and 



no THE FIRST BATTALION 

Lieutenant Maefarlan set off for a "leave" at Nice. Orders had been issued 
for the preparation of leave schedules for the men of both Companies. But 
the work continually interfered and the only enlisted man in the Battalion 
to have a real seven-days' leave before the armistice was Miller of Com- 
pany "D" who, while on detached service at General Headquarters, was 
granted a special leave. 

The Major, in anticipation of important work ahead, arranged for the 
release of all members of the Battalion from work in the area south of Neuf- 
chateau and once more the Neufchateau-Langres line was left unfinished. 
By this time, however, it was nearing completion and it was finished by old 
friends of the Second, now the "407th." 




Chapter XIII 



With the First Army Corps 



GENERAL Order No. 9, issued from General Headquarters on January 
fifteenth, 191 8, created the First American Army Corps. Not since 
the close of the Civil War had there been such an organization. Major- 
General Hunter Liggett was named as Corps Commander, and the First, 
Second, Twenty-sixth and Forty-second Divisions were assigned for line duty, 
and the Forty-first as Base and Training Division. There were also a num- 
ber of artillery, signal, engineer, air observation, and pursuit troops, cavalry, 
and a replacement Division, making a total of approximately 170,000 men. 
At a later date, the permanent assignment of Divisions to a Corps was dis- 
continued, the main body of the Corps consisting of troops temporarily 
placed under its tactical or administrative command. 

On January twentieth, the First Corps with headquarters at Neufchateau, 
began to carry out General Order No. 9 and took over the administrative 
command of the First Division which was in line in the Xivray-Flirey sector, 
and shortly afterward of the Second Division holding the sector 'between 
Dieue and Spada, the Forty-second Division holding the Luneville-Baccarat 
sector, and the Twenty-sixth Division then along the Chemin-des-Dames. 
Each of the Divisions remained for the present under the tactical command 
of the various French Corps to which they had been assigned. 

On February seventeenth, the 406th was assigned as the First Corps 



I 12 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



Telegraph Battalion and. in anticipation of the very important work to be 
done at Corps Headquarters all of the equipment was carefully gone over 
so that everything would be in shape for tackling any assignment. While 
Company "E" was building a new line from Neuf chateau to Void, Com- 
pany "D" reported for temporary duty to the Signal Officer of the First 
Division. 

During the week prior to the movement of Company "D," a conference 
was held with Major Schwartz, First Division Signal Officer. It was learned 
that it was his idea to split the Company into many small details, working 
throughout the Division, so that he might collect the men of his Divisional 
Field Signal Battalion for handling new construction. Strenuous objections 

were made to this plan. The 
Battalion Officers would not 
agree that any similar organ- 
ization of the A. E. F. could 
do better work than the men 
of the 406th. A discussion 
of the matter convinced the 
Division Officers that the 
406th would produce far more 
satisfactory work under its 
own officers than if it were 
split into details scattered 
around with various units. 
Orders were issued to that 
effect. At this time Captain 
Gauss was released from Gen- 
eral Headquarters and re- 
turned to his old organization 
as Engineer Officer at Bat- 
talion Headquarters. 
Washington's Birthday was approaching, and an order was issued from 
General Headquarters directing that this holiday be observed by all A. E. F. 
troops except those actually engaged in combat with the enemy. For the 
406th, Chief Entertainer "Jerry" Hamilton was instructed to produce the 
talent and put on a show. The Battalion collected in the large assembly 
room of the Y. M. C. A. hut at Neufchateau. A mandolin quartet, Buehler, 
Ricciardi, Gardiner and Hale, responded to repeated encores. "Jerry" was 
on the program with his famous pantomime poker game, with his "black-face" 
stunts, with songs, and as end man with Sebring in a minstrel show which 
brought down the house. Dobbie resurrected an "O. D." blanket from which 
he made a Scotch Kiltie costume to give "local color" to his dialect stories. 




Maj. General Hunter Liggett 



WITH THE FIRST ARMY CORPS 



".; 



Thevelin induced a part of the Seventy-seventh French Infantry Band to 
play between the vaudeville acts. 

As the time was near at hand when the Battalion was to see actual fight- 
ing, it was necessary to dispose of quantities of excess baggage. Prior to 
this time the different camps and billets had been of a semi-permanent 
nature, which tended to encourage the accumulation of "junk" of various 
descriptions. There were loud lamentations when the miscellaneous assort- 
ment of boxes and trunks, with much of their contents, were discarded. 

Company "D" started for the new location on February twenty-eighth 
in a pouring rain. Lieutenant Price with Lutz and his construction gang 
and several telephone and telegraph operators set off for Gondrecourt, there 




Boucq 



to take over the operation of the switchboard at the rear echelon of the First 
Division, and to do such bolstering up and rebuilding as the hastily con- 
structed telephone plant in that vicinity required. The remainder of the 
Company proceeded to Boucq. 

The only available billet for the company at Boucq was a wooden barracks 
which had not been appropriated by any of the divisional troops because 
one end was open to the weather, and because it boasted no floor except 
mother earth. In dry weather, when this home was selected, the grass- 
covered floor looked possible but when the trucks with the mess equipment 
arrived it was raining, and the prospective billet appeared almost hopeless. 

It was, as one of the wags remarked, "A fine place for submarines, but h 

for sleeping." Erb gave one glance at the open end of the shack where he 
was expected to set up his kitchen and almost "passed out." But with 



u 4 THE FIRST BATTALION 

characteristic good nature the mess crew was soon established in the mud. 
The train which was to transport the men as far as Toul was to leave 
Neufchateau at one o'clock. As a matter of fact it did not get started 
until five. Early in the evening snow began to fall and by the time Toul 
was reached a blizzard was raging. It took nine hours to make the forty- 
kilometer trip. Nothing could have been more appreciated than the plenti- 
ful supply of hot chocolate and sandwiches which were generously distributed 
by the Red Cross workers, Miss Andrews and her assistant. Cowan tells of 
the men's appreciation: 

"I have dined at the Cafe de la Paix in Paris, in one of the best 
cafe of Lyons, and in private houses without number. I have begged 
meals from all kinds of outfits, from colored labor battalions to 
officers' messes; but the food that I was most thankful for was the 
chocolate and sandwiches from the girls who had waited for us in 
snow and sleet for five hours. It was given with a smile and we were 
made to feel that we were doing them a favor by eating the things 
they had for us." 

The car containing the cots and blankets was shifted from the station 
into the freight yard. It seemed hours before it was placed where it could 
be unloaded. The remainder of the journey was made by truck. A batch 
of mail had been brought up to Boucq from Neufchateau and this, together 
with the steak and potatoes and coffee which Dailey had been keeping hot for 
hours, put new cheer into the gang. By two o'clock the entire camp, includ- 
ing those in tents pitched near the barracks, had settled down. 

These men were still amateurs in the war game. At six the next morning 
they had their first taste of gun fire. A barrage put over by the Germans 
against American troops in the trenches was the first real cannonading the 
Signal men had heard. It seemed very close, and as Cowan puts it: 

"A few months later, we worked beside artillery at Chateau 
Thierry, and in September we heard the roar of the barrage which 
started the St. Mihiel offensive, probably the greatest artillery 
operation during the entire war, but none of these gave us the 
thrill that we experienced that first night in the mud of Boucq." 

During that barrage, which preceded a German attempt at raiding the 
American trenches, the troops of the First Division gave such a good account 
of themselves that the Commander of the Thirty-second French Corps issued 
a general order congratulating the Americans on their "superb energy and 
coolness." Although the men of the 406th had taken no part in the action, 
their chests swelled when they read their copy of the order, as they realized 
that they were now with the forces actually facing the enemy. 

Knowing that Boucq was close, to the front, Lieutenant Macfarlan had 
accompanied the outfit and with Lieutenant Hasskarl and the star "rustler" 



WITH THE FIRST ARMY CORPS 



"5 




Montsec in the Background 



Pemberton, helped to get the camp in shape the next morning ^by covering 
the worst of the puddles with corrugated iron. No reveille was sounded that 
morning except for a detachment taken to Menil la Tour, or "Maxey" as 
it was called in code, for duty in the listening posts. Meantime, Lieutenant 
Griest tramped through the snowy woods with Major Schwartz, studying 
routes for various lines to be constructed to Regimental Headquarters. The 
Major did not realize that he now had a "Battalion of Experts" and his 
plan was to explain the work to be done and to furnish from time to time, 
what material he believed would be required. It was explained that if he 
would show just where the lines were to be built and the type of construction 
which he desired, Company "D" would estimate and requisition the materials 
required and go ahead with the construction. After two days of close super- 
vision, Major Schwartz not only gave the Company blanket approval to draw 
from his stores any supplies required, but also asked that certain of his senior 
noncommissioned officers be allowed to travel around with Kraus who was 
making the surveys and plans and with the construction details, to gain 
experience. 

While lines toward the front were being surveyed and material for these 
collected, Jensen and his section erected two circuits between the French 
exchange at Toul and the First Division switchboard at "Maxey." These 
circuits were placed on French poles, and went up as if by magic, a few days 
respite from construction work having given the crowd a surplus of energy. 



n6 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



The forward circuits were tackled with a will. On this line there were 
no rights of way to be considered. Speed of construction and accessibility for 
quick repairs were the chief factors, and the line led straight across fields 
from the hill at Boucq, toward the woods to the north, always in plain view 
of the commanding Boche positions at Montsec. Fortunately no rock was 
encountered in the digging of holes. The poles provided were rather light, 
but this was not a time for argument and they were used. The line terminated 

in the woods south of Ansauville, 
and one branch ran to a dugout 
at Raulecourt. Another ran into 
Ansauville, connecting with a line 
being erected by the Division Sig- 
nal Battalion. 

While rushing this line to the 
north the whole countryside 
was crowded with troops: in- 
fantry going to or returning from 
the trenches, engineers working 
on highways or railroads, and others 
distributing ammunition which, by 
night, was hauled into the woods on 
the little narrow-gauge trains or 
"light railways." No lights were 
allowed on the trucks in this neigh- 
borhood, as it was necessary to con- 
ceal all movements as much as pos- 
sible; nor were "Klaxons" permit- 
ted, because horns were used to 
warn of gas attacks. Colored labor 
troops were working in the vicinity 
gathering fuel from the woods. They 
kept up a constant chatter. Seeing 
an engineer, one inquired of Don- 
baugh : 

"Say, boss, ahknowsdem fellahs 
wid crossed guns on theyah collahs 
am infantry, and dem fellahs wid 
de crossed flags is signal men, but 
who is dem wid de hotels on theyah 
collahs?" 

Another dusky was chatting 
with Spangler when a group of 




Lieut. Col. William F. Repp 



WITH THE FIRST JRMY CORPS 



117 



French Colonials, probably from Morocco or Algiers, passed along the road. 
The laborer called out to one of the Colonials: 

"Whah's you from, babe?" 

"Je ne comprends pas," replied the Colonial. Whereupon the mystified 
darkey gasped: 

"Damn ef theyah aint ah niggah whah' doan know his own lanwidge." 

Before the forward line had been completed it was decided to increase 
the number of circuits. "Repp insulators" were used. In his early days in 
France, Captain Repp devised a crossarm which was an improvement on 




Men of the 26th Division Entering Toul Sector to Relieve the 1st Division 



the type used by the Allies. The ordinary crossarm is heavy and Repp 
figured that much cargo space could be saved and much hard work eliminated 
without sacrificing any efficiency by using arms of regulation length, but just 
heavy enough to last the couple of years during which the lines were expected 
to serve. A lineman could swing a whole bundle of the new arms over his 
shoulder and carry them. At the same time Repp devised a new insulator 
which, instead of screwing over a wooden knob on the crossarm, had a pro- 
jecting iron screw which could be driven directly into the wooden crossarm. 
Crossarms therefore were merely straight sticks of wood and the insulators 
were very readily attached by driving the screw partly into the crossarm 
and then turning it a couple of times to pull it down tight. These became 
familiar to all Signal troops as "Repp crossarms" and "Repp insulators." 
Repp also devised simpler methods of attaching the crossarms to the poles. 

The work which Repp was doing at General Headquarters was not of the 
spectacular type and its importance but little realized in the field. He was 



n8 THE FIRST BATTALION 

promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and certainly would have gone 
higher had not the Germans quit in November. He was awarded the Ameri- 
can Distinguished Service Medal: 

"For exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services. With 
his valuable assistance the Signal Corps was enabled originally to 
plan for the immense network of the United States Army telegraph 
and telephone lines now existing in France. To him is attributable 
the exceptionally high standard of efficiency attained by the tele- 
phone and telegraph service. As chief signal officer, Advance Sec- 
tion Services of Supply, his services have been marked by a char- 
acter of exceptional excellence." 

That his work was known to our Allies is evidenced by the fact that he 
was honored by the English as a "Companion of the Most Distinguished 
Order of St. Michael and St. George"; by the French as a "Chevalier of the 
Legion of Honor, ' ' and he was recommended by the Italian General Head- 
quarters for an Italian medal. It can be seen that the influence of his work 
was widespread. 

The work went ahead with such speed and enthusiasm that in nine days 
the whole job was done. The Divisional Signal Officer had estimated that 
it would take three weeks to put up the originally planned two-crossarm line 
and circuits to Toul. Not only was this work completed in nine days but 
three additional arms with their wires as well. A number of records were 
made. One morning, in three hours Long and Noone completed eighteen 
five-foot deep holes. Another time Jensen's section, with four men climbing 
and four ground men, strung forty-eight half-mile coils of wire in eight hours. 
The officers of the First Division learned that there was no joke in the term 
"experts" when applied to the 406th. 

On the Sunday after the line was completed, General Russell with General 
Gibbs and other officers reached Boucq to look it over. General Russell 
stood on. the hill from which the first half of the line could be seen as it 
stretched across the country toward the Ford de la Reine. He rubbed his 
hands and enthusiastically exclaimed, "That's the kind of work that is a 
credit to the Telegraph Battalions and you will all be doing a lot more of 
it before this war is over." 

Aeroplane activity was almost constant, the German planes flying over 
the lines every morning in the midst of terrific anti-aircraft attacks. "What 
goes up must come down," and the falling shrapnel made steel helmets popular. 
During one attack, Jensen who was stringing circuits near Raulecourt dis- 
covered that he had left his helmet in the truck. Did he run back and get 
it? Not he. A coil of wire on his head, he stuck to the job. 

On account of the increasing artillery and airplane activity, all troops 
quartered in Menil and Boucq were ordered to prepare either caves or shelter 
trenches into which to retire in case of bombardment. No caves were avail- 



WITH THE FIRST ARMY CORPS 119 

able at Boucq and all the construction men were kept on the line. The first 
sergeant, mess sergeant, company clerk and two or three of the mechanics 
dug a trench. An attempt was made to enlist the services of the official 
interpreter Thevelin, but that worthy after rummaging through his effects 
produced a certificate from French Headquarters stating that because of 
wounds received while in the trenches, he was incapable of performing any 
physical labor. That let him out of the work but did not prevent his fellows 
from telling him that during bombardment he would enjoy it in the open. 

Living with the First Division was satisfactory in many ways. Supplies 
came regularly and the daily allotments of rations were liberal. But the pay 
for February was slow in arriving and sociable games in the evening were out 
of the question, as the January pay long since had gravitated by way of the 
cards or "bones" to the pockets of a few. So in the evenings all joined in the 
general singing, led by the mandolin "ticklers," Hale, Buehler and Walkup. 
Erb's monologue as a circus "barker" and Hale's weird musical instrument, 
made of a stick and cigar box with a single string, helped to pass the time. 
The star shells and showers of tracer bullets from the machine guns of the air- 
planes made a beautiful sight as they lightened the heavens. Occasionally, 
the men who returned from duty in the listening posts, the most dangerous 
work the Battalion had yet been called upon to do, consented to tell of their 
experiences in No Man's Land. Many of the auditors were anxious to be 
assigned to this work while others were more conservative. As one of the 
latter put it: 

"You fellows can do all the bragging you want. When I'm told to go. I'll 
go, but 'til then I'm going to stay right here. I'm not anxious to meet any 
undertaker until I have to." 

When the work north of Boucq had been finished and Murdaugh had com- 
pleted a switchboard in the old Chateau at Boucq, First Division plans were 
changing. As "D" Company's camp was in an exposed location, it was de- 
cided during the lull to move to the little town of Laneuveville which was 
sheltered by a friendly hill from sight of the enemy at Montsec. 




Chapter XIV 



One Thing After Another 




[ORPORAL LEON," a little French boy, attached himself to the Bat- 
talion during the winter. Spears gives a picture of this interesting young- 
ster : " During our first winter in France a young French kid about eleven 
years old wished himself on us as mascot. Early in the war he had lost both his 
father and mother. He had been up with some French outfit and had been 
wounded, and came to us dressed up in his little French sky-blue uniform, 
wound and service stripes and a corporal's chevron. He was just such a kid 
as one would expect him to be after his associations with a crowd of soldiers — 
wise beyond his years, resourceful and self-reliant, pretty tough for a kid, 
but a likable little chap with it all. 

"He acquired a great liking for Fennell, and he brought with him a great 
fondness for homeless dogs probably because he was a waif himself. Every 
day he would get a new dog, take him around to the mess-shack and get him 
a big feed. His hunger satisfied, the dog generally beat it. After this had 
happened with several different dogs, he finally brought in a little stub-tailed 
mutt which he decided to keep tied. But Mr. Pup spent most of the night 
howling and some one cut him loose. Leon missed him the next morning and 
had one of those French fits. He started to investigate. Some one told him 
that Fennell had cut the rope. He came in ready to annihilate Fennell but 
couldn't find him. One could see by his face what was in his mind. It was 



120 



ONE THING AFTER ANOTHER 121 

hard to go back on a friend, but the loss of his dog was too much. He held 
up the piece of rope and between sobs he called down on Fennell a stream 
of curses which would have shamed the most hard-boiled man in the A. E. F.— 
it was the only English Leon knew — and he finished with tears rolling down, 
his face: "Le bon petit chien, il est parti!" 

Company ,; E" had not been idle during the month of March. The First 
Army Corps plans indicated that the lines through Vaucouleurs would become 
more and more important. The light copper line along the railway had not 
been entirely satisfactory and Company "E" began to build a new line which 
was to follow the road from Neufchateau to Vaucouleurs and continue thence 
to Void. As usual this was a job which had to be done in a great hurry. 
Lieutenants Suddath and Foust started at Vaucouleurs with one platoon 
and Captain Wattles started with another platoon in Neufchateau. To speed 
the work a large detail was borrowed from the 101st Engineers. 

Another important job was furnished by the narrow-gauge or light rail- 
ways which, with Sorcey as a center, required telephone service. Here again 
the Engineers furnished the men and Collins had his hands full teaching them 
to build telephone lines. These circuits connected with the new lines at Void 
and went past Sorcey to Corneville, a little town close to Boucq. 

There were no unusual construction features on the Void line and the work 
progressed in an orderly fashion with only minor interruptions such as that 
caused by the establishing of a new air field north of Vaucouleurs. This made 
necessary the re-routing of a section already completed. The recall of the 
engineers cut down the working forces at Vaucouleurs and it was necessary 
to call for men from "D." These latter who were assigned to help at Vau- 
couleurs had just become established in the best billets in Laneuveville, ex- 
pecting to enjoy a rest after their strenuous days at Boucq. Thus came 
one more opportunity to learn the lesson that in war time the unexpected is 
usually to be expected. 

Just about this time information was received that the Air Service was 
establishing Headquarters at Toul. This meant telephone service. A section 
was collected from Gondrecourt and Vaucouleurs, the offices were quickly 
wired and a small French switchboard installed. As the Air people had no 
one to operate the switchboard, Craigmile after finishing the installation 
remained there as switchboard operator until an operator could be found to 
relieve him. 

New officers arrived with the Battalion late in March. These men had 
completed courses in the training camps, first in the States and then in France, 
and were put in the Battalion so they might become familiar with the methods 
used in actual construction work. Lieutenants Waldron and Donaldson were 
placed with "E" Company and Lieutenants Laveyea and Hyre went to "D." 
After a stay of a little more than a month all of these except Lieutenant Donald- 



122 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



son were assigned to other Battalions. During March other changes had 
taken place in the family of officers; Lieutenant Smith, the Adjutant, was 
returned to the United States and Captain Gauss became Adjutant as well as 
Engineer Officer. 

The combined effort of almost the entire Battalion resulted in the com- 
pletion of the lines to Void and Sorcey in short order and the Companies re- 




1 — Working Out of Neufchateau 2 — Co. "E" Motor Mechanics 3 — That Satisfied Feeling 



turned to their respective towns, "D" to Laneuveville and "E" to Neufcha- 
teau. Further German successes in the west however, had caused a new- 
change in the First Corps plans and all construction with Laneuveville as a 
centre was abandoned. Shortly after its return from Vaucouleurs, Company 
"D" moved to Harmonville to prepare for new work. 

Lieutenant Laveyea relieved Lieutenant Price at Gondrecourt, so he could 
return to command Company "D" while Lieutenants Griest and Hasskarl 
took a leave at Aix-les-Bains. Most of the reconstruction work at Gondre- 
court had been completed but there remained the necessity of operating the 
telephone and telegraph lines. Hannam, in charge of the telephone exchange, 
and rapidly developing into one of the best switchboard operators in the Bat- 
talion, thus describes his work at Gondrecourt : 

"To my lot fell the taking charge of an office which was a large 
relay point in the Motor Dispatch Service where the great bulk of the 
Second Division telegraph business was handled. This took care of 
more E. F. M. cablegrams than the Corps office, to say nothing of the 



ONE THING AFTER ANOTHER 123 

telephone system which had to be operated. The First Corps schools 
and the aviation fields at Amanty, besides the First Division area tele- 
phones, all terminated on the board, so this was no easy task in itself. 

"About this time it became evident that the operating of the 
switchboards which we were going to be called on to do more and 
more, was becoming quite a problem. It was necessary to make a 
thorough study of the subject and school the men who were best 
qualified. We were dealing with the subscriber direct, usually a 
Colonel or a General who thought that his call was the most im- 
portant — in his opinion a matter of life and death. He would fre- 
quently give us to understand a court martial would be our reward if 
the call did not go through immediately, even if the lines were shot 
to pieces. Quite frequently the call was of the utmost importance, 
although we had to sift this kind out of possibly dozens of others. 
Most of the business was "toll," so every possible routing had to be 
in one's mind, while every town and generally the individual officers 
themselves were coded. 

"Besides the alertness, tact and patience of the operator, it was 
necessary to become a human encyclopedia as well and the great 
volume of business which had to be put through the French exchanges 
required almost the effort of a superman. Our own lines were, in some 
cases, horrible specimens leased from the French and usually 
grounded. When simplexed these sounded like a young boiler shop. 
Again, it might be necessary to try to talk over twenty miles of our 
twist lying across roads and in shell holes, strung under the most 
trying conditions. Therefore, it was necessary to develop a great 
pair of lungs and an intuitive sense of what was being said on the 
other end of the line. The real difficulty was that no sooner did one 
become familiar with his particular local conditions, the geography 
of the surrounding country, codes, etc., than everything was changed, 
including our location. 

"At any rate, at this time I was selected to be an operator, either 
a chief or otherwise, for the duration of the war. It was not because 
the job appealed to me or I wanted it but because I was needed on 
this particular work and others could be found to do anything else I 
could do. It was then I found how one's individuality could be 
absolutely lost in the Army. In order that the larger unit might 
function, the individual had to be sacrificed. I mention this not in a 
spirit of fault-finding but simply to do justice to a large percentage 
of the fellows." 

Certain of Hannam's remarks refer to switchboard operating during later 
activities of the Corps but, as he indicates, telephone service was popular in 
the army and there were few men really qualified to do the operating. Those 
who were selected, however, did efficient work. For the purpose of developing 
more telephone operators a school was established in the Battalion. In 
charge of the school was Lynch, a fortunate acquisition during the winter, who 
had formerly worked under Major Hubbell in the New York Telephone Com- 
pany Traffic Department at Newark. 



12j 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



The First Corps continued in administrative command of the First, Second, 
Twenty-sixth and Forty-second Divisions until April when the First Division 
was hurriedly withdrawn from the line and sent over to Cantigny to help stop 
the German drive. At this time it was determined to move Corps Head- 
quarters to Toul. Immediately a switchboard was established and the Gon- 
drecourt detachment under Lutz, enlarged by several men from Harmonville, 
quickly strung circuits throughout the town to various offices and to the French 
exchange. At the same time a ten-wire line was started from Neufchateau 
toward Toul, Company "E" working from Neufchateau to Martigny and 
Company "D" from that town to Colombey les Belles. 




Harmonville 



The plant at Toul was completed on time and the Corps Chief of Staff 
moved into his new Headquarters. But once more the plans were changed 
and the officer returned to Neufchateau. Toul had become an important 
point for the Army, being in the center of a group of air organizations and a 
switching point for many of the Corps lines. So the switchboard was con- 
tinued, the dignified code of "Podunk" being assigned, and a telegraph service 
established as well. In prospect of still further needs for service at Toul, 
Cowan drew up a plan and prepared the requisition for a distribution system 
in the city, involving the use of much aerial cable. Although this requisition 
was approved and the material shipped, the 406th moved and another 
organization made the installation. Such, too, was the fate of the cable sys- 
tem around Neufchateau, plans for which were completed by Brittain early in 
February but executed by the 407th when the material was received. 

The line from Neufchateau to Colombey was probably the most satis- 



ONE THING AFTER ANOTHER 125 

factory one which had been built by the Battalion. Good poles and all other 
necessary materials were available and there was an adequate supply of good 
old American tools. In addition an air-compressor and rock drills had arrived. 
This equipment was permanently mounted on a two-ton truck, both truck and 
machinery being placed under the supervision of Fullerton who had been 
particularly successful in keeping this truck on the road. The drills were 
operated by Peterson and Fennell. The truck was hurried back and forth 
from one end of the job to the other as the drilling machinery was needed — 
Fullerton and his flying crew usually spending their evenings on the road. 

After this line was finished a critical committee of section chiefs and head 
linemen inspected it, walking its length, after which a conference was held and 
sections sent out to fix up certain features which were not quite up to standard. 
In the rush work of the winter and early spring, speed had made it necessary 
to sacrifice some of the finer points of the construction and as this was such 
a very important line, the inspection was planned to make certain that the 
whole job was done in the most thorough manner. 

In April Brittain received a commission as Second Lieutenant in the Signal 
Corps and was ordered to Tours where he entered into the general engineering 
work. He was the seventh man to be commissioned without training other 
than that received in the Battalion. Brittain in his new work for the Signal 
Corps was particularly successful on submarine cables. This officer was 
warmly greeted by his old friends when a year later as a First Lieutenant 
he rejoined his former Company at Brest. The Army Candidates' School had 
been established at Langres and early in the spring instructions were received 
that two men from the Battalion be nominated to attend the first class for 
Signal Officers. Conwell and Kraus were entered in the April class and re- 
ceived their commissions after completing the course. 

Harmonville, Company "D's" headquarters for April and May, was a 
little town about a kilometer east of the main highway and situated on an 
eminence. The principal industry seemed to be the raising of stock and many 
fine horses in the village had escaped the watchful eyes of those purchasing 
animals for the armies. The barracks were comparatively comfortable, being 
floored with broken stone, and the people most cordial toward these first 
American troops to be billeted there. However, there was little to keep the 
men busy during the long evenings. A visit to the Y. M. C. A. warehouse at 
Toul brought forth a supply of baseballs, bats, quoits, volley balls and boxing 
gloves. Henceforth the field around the barracks resembled a children's 
playground. No matter how hard the work was during the day, there was 
plenty of activity in the evening. 

One rainy Sunday afternoon, Magill and Thorpe arrived at Harmonville 
to announce the promotion of Lieutenant Griest to the rank of Captain. The 
notice accompanying the telegram was written by Lieutenant Meigs and 



126 THE FIRST BATTALION 

announced that a friendly game had been interrupted to take care of this 
official business, and it would be necessary for the one causing the interruption 
to come immediately to Battalion headquarters, bringing something to make 
this interruption worth while. When Lieutenant Griest arrived at Neuf- 
chateau the "friendly" game ceased, much to the apparent joy of Captain 
Wattles and Lieutenant Macfarlan who seemed to be financing the fun, and 
after the oath of office was administered by Lieutenant Macfarlan, the new 
Captain produced the "something" suggested by Lieutenant Meigs. And the 
friendly game was over for the night. 




Chapter XV 



Adventu?~es i?i No Man's Land 



IN THE spring of 191 8, about twenty-five members of the Battalion 
had some experiences which are worth setting down here as a separate 
chapter in this story. 

The Radio Intelligence Service established listening posts out in No Man's 
Land for the purpose of picking up enemy messages. The posts were located 
in dugouts, where experienced operators sat at their instruments. From each 
dugout wires were strung over the ground to the right, to the left and to the 
front, as close as possible to the enemy lines. At the distant end of each of 
these wires was placed a copper "mat" a couple of feet square which was 
buried in the ground. These mats "picked up" the electrical impulses of 
telephone, telegraph and radio messages. From the mats the impulses 
traveled over the wires to the operators in the dugouts where they were 
recorded and then transmitted to Headquarters. 

The Radio Intelligence Service was under the supervision of a Lieutenant 
Smith, an interesting and fearless adventurer who, on account of his services 
in Alaska, had been nicknamed "Caribou" Smith. The service was not under 
the First Army Corps but reported directly to General Headquarters. How- 
ever, as there was a shortage of Signal troops at General Headquarters, the 
First Army Corps was called on for men to take care of the installation and 
repair work in connection with the listening posts. During March a detail 



127 



12} 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



from Company "D" and in April a detail from Company "E" was assigned 
to this work, alternating in similar manner during May and June. 

The work of the operators kept them within the dugouts but the Signal 
men were responsible not only for placing the mats and connecting them back 
to the instruments in the dugouts but also for keeping the wires intact in the 
midst of the constant gun fire. To crawl out from a dugout, a coil of wire on 
one arm, a shovel and tools on the other, with bullets flying overhead and the 
ground torn to pieces and covered with barbed wire entanglements was not a 
job for a nervous man. In planting the mats and in subsequent maintenance, 
some dependence could be placed on the methodical nature of the Boche mind. 
If a certain section in which a mat was to be placed or wire repaired happened 
at the time to be under shell or machine gun fire, observations on the interval 
of fire would determine when it would be safe to do the work. For example, 
if a volley splashed forth from the machine guns every fifteen minutes and 
lasted for one minute, it was comparatively safe to hop out from shelter as 
soon as the firing ceased, and to work for ten minutes before again seeking 
shelter to await the next volley. 

A large German power plant near the foot of Montsec at first interfered 
with the service because of the electric current generated there. Later how- 
ever, when Western Electric amplifiers were received, there was such an im- 
provement that radio messages from Berlin or the Eiffel Tower were frequently 
picked up. 

In the early days the listening posts sometimes overheard conversations 
between American soldiers and made it possible to curb thoughtless talk which 
enemy listening posts might overhear. Every effort was made to keep in- 
formation from the enemy. In these forward areas all names of towns were 
coded and no titles used over the telephone. If one wanted to speak to the 
Division Signal Officer at 
Menil la Tour, Colonel 
Schwartz, he would ask 
for "Schwartz at Maxey." 
Beaumont was "Boston" 
and there were other 
names like "Maine" and 
"Mississippi" to remind 
one of home. 

The first detail to be 
engaged in listening post 
duty was in charge of 
Corporal Tritle and in- 
cluded Alber, Devlin, 
Fennell, Lord, Noone, 




Entrance to Listening Post 



ADVENTURES IN NO MAN'S LAND 129 

Peterson and Worrell. They worked in shifts, four being on duty while the 
other four rested. From time to time, those on rest wandered over to Boucq 
to see their company friends but they were not anxious to talk of their experi- 
ences, preferring to keep their minds off the subject. All these fellows ac- 
quired a new and more serious expression. It conveyed the impression that 
they, in their prowlings through the dangers of No Man's Land and their 
nights in the dugouts while barrages flew in both directions over them, had 
been very near the Great Beyond. 

Tritle and Devlin were stationed in a dugout at Xivray near the foot of 
Montsec, and Lord and Peterson some distance beyond Seicheprey. From 
these points they carried picks and shovels and materials, and planted the 
tell-tale mats, running the wires back to the posts. Tritle later remarked, 
"We had plenty of everything but food; plenty of rats and cooties and lots of 
shelling and gas." 

The listening post men, not being part of any divisional organization, were 
seldom warned of impending raids or attacks. Upon frequent occasions the 
troops were withdrawn from the front line and the men in the dugouts re- 
mained, sometimes surrounded by the enemy. Such care had been taken in 
instructing the Battalion men in the use of gas masks and in the seriousness of 
gas attacks that throughout the four months during which these listening post 
details were supplied, there was not a single gas casualty suffered by the men 
of the 406th, although gas attacks were of frequent occurrence. 

Peterson had some interesting experiences which many months later he 
agreed to describe: 

"They took us in trucks to Beaumont, about a mile back of the 
line. This was the limit of daylight traffic on the road which was 
at this point known as "Dead Man's Curve." It was constantly 
visible from Montsec, the German stronghold, except where carefully 
camouflaged by strips of burlap stretched between the trees and 
painted to imitate grass. The first night the Lieutenant said he had 
no place to put us, and we had better look around for a place to camp 
for the night. In an old house facing the road just one room had been 
spared by shell fire and we climbed into a couple of empty bunks. 
Soon the shells started to explode at close range. The Boche shelled 
this road each night, dropping them over just often enough to make 
the hauling of supplies a mighty dangerous job. In the morning 
Alber and I decided that we had better look for a dugout, especially 
when we were told that the house we had picked out was the worst 
place along the road. We found a little leaky dugout just big enough 
for two, which nobody seemed to have discovered and there we 
dropped our blankets for the second night. 

"Next day Lieutenant Smith came to Beaumont and said that 
we were to take some supplies with us to our future home to relieve 
two of our men who had been there for four days. The sign boards 



no 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



were in French and it was almost impossible to know which forks 
and turns to take. The ditches all looked alike. Although the 
trenches from Beaumont to Seicheprey were not so large they were 
pretty well duck-boarded and drained. At Seicheprey we loaded 
up with coils of wire, storage batteries, candles and globes and 
started on the next hop to the front. It would have been bad enough 
with nothing to carry as in many places the sides were caved in, 
making a pile of mud in the bottom of the trench. The duck-boards 
were broken and in some places entirely missing and the water had 
accumulated from the winter rains and snows to a depth of eight or 




i\ " va r>- 



Ruins of Seicheprey 



ten inches for a hundred yards at a stretch. If you happened to put 
your foot in the wrong place or in a hole in the duck-board, you would 
go down to your knees in mud. We had to squeeze through narrow 
places with our loads and I'll tell you, it was some little trip. 

"The new home which we reached was a beauty. The floor was 
about a foot below the bottom of the trench and the ceiling some 
five feet from the floor, the room being about six feet square. There 
were two stationary bunks, a chair, and a board nailed to the wall 
for a table. On this board the amplifier and globes for picking up 
messages were placed. When you stepped on some of the boards 
in the floor you started a miniature geyser. This home was on the 
communication trench about fifty yards from the front line. 

"We looked over the place and rested a few minutes and then 
started back to Seicheprey for another load of stuff. We had quite 
a job finding our way back and Fennell lost his way. He climbed 



ADVENTURES IN NO MAN'S LAND 

out of the trench to look the ground over, thus getting worse mixed up 
than ever. It took him about two hours to find his way in. 

"When I relieved Devlin at this post I was just too late to get 
any chow and when it did come I was out of luck. They brought 
the stuff out from Seicheprey where it was cooked, in tireless cooker 
cans, and these kept it pretty warm if the carriers did not get tired and 
stop somewhere. The carriers on this particular night were new to 
the business and decided it was easier to walk on top than to slip and 
slide around over the duck-boards. Fritz spotted them, and just as 
they had taken the lid off the can he put a ' 77 ' on top of the parapet 
where we were standing and dumped a load of mud and debris into 
the can and over us. 

"The next day we received our instructions. All we had to do was 
to plant a piece of copper screening about two feet square just as close 
to the German lines as we could get it, hook one end of a coil of 
twisted pair to the terminals on the mat and walk back to the dugout 
with the other end of the coil. Then after that all we had to do was to 
'shoot' trouble on that line and on the lines to the five other mats irl 
the neighborhood. 

"The first night Fritz must have been trying to make somebody 
think that he was going to pull off a raid. For he dropped over about 
three thousand shells, naturally right behind the front lines, and 
every whizz sounded as if it was coming right for the roof of our 
dugout, but we got nothing worse than the pieces thumping against 
our blanket of a door. In the morning we started out to see what 
had happened. Trouble ! If it were not for the work of hauling the 
wire out from Seicheprey and running it through the barbed wire 
it would certainly have been a whole lot easier to run all new loops 
to the mats. Every circuit was cut at least twenty times. 

"I saw right there where I had some job. But luckily that didn't 
happen every night. The rest of the day all I had to do was to take 
that walk back to Beaumont and get some new storage batteries. 
I had always had the idea that a quiet sector was a place where days 
at a time would go by without anything happening. Maybe that is 
what they do call 'nothing,' but it did not seem like 'nothing' to me. 
For every night there would be a half hour's continuous firing, pretty 
heavy firing, and then it would dwindle down to one about every five 
minutes. Then in the middle of the night the gas alarm would go 
off and we'd have to lie there half awake with gas masks on for 
fifteen or twenty minutes 'til the 'all clear' came. This happened 
sometimes once, sometimes three or four times in a night. The 
third night we saw a bunch of doughboys coming out of the front 
line and we asked them what was up. 'Oh, nothing.' Well, we told 
the machine gunners who had a dugout just across the trench from 
us, to tell us if anything happened. One said, 'Oh, you'll know all 
right — when you hear our gun you know it's time to go, for we are 
a rear guard to cover retreats.' Well, we would have been waiting 
yet if we waited for that gun for all the troops were called out of the 
front lines that night in expectation of an enemy raid and the 



132 THE FIRST BATTALION 

machine gunners pulled out with them and never said a word to us 
and we woke up the next morning, a quarter of a mile out in No 
Man's Land, with all our troops behind us. About nine o'clock 
they came in again and the machine gunners informed us that they 
had forgotten all about it. I guess we would have forgotten all 
about it too if that raid had been pulled off. 

"After my four-day trick was over I made a special trip by foot 
and otherwise to Boucq and placed my request for $10,000 life 
insurance which two months previous I had thrown flat. 

"The next time my turn came to go up to the dugout I found 
that the station had been moved back to Seicheprey. This Radio 
Intelligence section was a separate and distinct branch of the Signal 
Corps and all of its workings were supposed to be secret. I think 
that is the reason we were always stuck in some out of the way corner. 
We found our dugout way over in the corner of a graveyard at least 
two hundred yards from our nearest living neighbor. 

"It was a much more comfortable 'home,' however. Although it 
was built on the ground level it was at least five feet thick on the side 
exposed to enemy fire, and made of solid stone work. The roof also 
must have been four feet thick, the whole being built from the ruins 
of the houses of the village. But after seeing reinforced concrete 
pill boxes eight and ten feet thick, split in the middle by a well- 
directed 380 mm. and holes dug twenty feet under the ground 
caved in by the concussion of a bomb, we realized that even this 
safe looking place was only safe in looks. Just contrary to our former 
home, this place was too big. Our little charcoal fire had to stretch 
some to keep it warm during those long night watches. To give an 
idea of the size, it contained two decks of eight bunks each with plenty 
of space at the end for our instrument table. 

"Our lines to No Man's Land had been withdrawn and our two 
mats lay in a ditch about a hundred yards away. We could still 
pick up the German buzzer messages and also keep our own lines 
policed. It seemed pretty soft after the other job, but after all there 
are not many places that did not get hit by shells sooner or later at 
that distance from the front. 

"Gas was giving us more trouble than anything else at this time. 
There were four of us on the job at this station, three operators and 
myself to keep the wires working. As soon as I landed they told me 
that the Boche had formed the habit of throwing a sprinkling of gas 
shells over every afternoon at about five o'clock. It was a very 
propitious time of the day for on two occasions he had managed 
to drop a couple into the kitchens around town, the first time killing 
a cook and both times causing the loss of a meal and ruining all the 
rations in the kitchen. 

"This day we heard the first one coming and its 'pop' as it 
exploded. We marked it as some distance to the leeward and took 
our time getting our masks ready. Others soon began coming thick 
and fast so we got in our masks and awaited developments. We saw 
everybody getting down to the end of the town away from where 



ADVENTURES IN NO MAN'S LAND 133 

shells were falling and in a position where the wind would carry the 
gas away from them. I said that was the place for us and started 
off but the others did not follow me. After about an hour's wait the 
gas cleared away and I started back, and as I passed the Red Cross 
station there lay my three buddies all stretched out in a row and 
in pretty bad shape. They had started down later and a shell had 
burst right beside them just as they took off their masks. They were 
sent back to the hospital as soon as an ambulance could be brought up 
and were marked unfit for further front line duty. 

"That night I spent alone in my cemetery. I did not know a 
thing about how to run the instrument, and it was a rather delicate 
affair, so there was nothing for me to do but call up the Lieutenant 
and ask him to send up three more operators. Two days later they 
arrived. That little evening's work pretty nearly cleaned out our 
end of the Radio Intelligence section. 

"The next day was bright and sunny and I had nothing to do but 
wait for the relief. I took my old magazine and sat on a rock in the 
sun and read. Then the only survivor pretty nearly got it ! I had 
been watching a couple of our planes trying to cross the lines and 
incidentally to dodge the Boche anti-aircraft fire. I got tired look- 
ing up and went on reading, never noticing that the planes were 
getting directly overhead. Suddenly a whizz — smack! I almost 
felt the wind of a piece of shrapnel that dropped out of the clouds 
right down beside me — so I took my book over in the shade of the 
dugout. 

"That night about 8 o'clock we got another rather heavy dose 
of gas. The town was thoroughly saturated and when I heard a 
whistle blow I went out to see what was happening. The gas officer 
had decided to evacuate the town which was in a hollow, until it 
cleared up. So he ordered all the men to get blankets and follow 
him to the hilltop at the edge of the town. And on that breezy hill- 
top on a raw March night we settled down to sleep." 

The Company "E" men comprising the detail for April were under Cor- 
poral Drew and included Custer, Gallo, Grindel, Henry, Leasure, McKay 
and McDonald. As was the case in March, these men, not being under the 
direction of the Division, were not warned when trouble was expected and 
here too upon several occasions the division troops were withdrawn from the 
front lines, leaving the signal detail marooned. Fortunately on most of these 
occasions, the Boche raids did not reach the American front lines. At one 
time, however, when Gallo, Grindel and McKay were in a dugout, the Ger- 
mans did come across and bombed nearly every dugout in the American front 
lines, the one occupied by the Radio Intelligence men being one of three that 
escaped. The men remained at their station entirely surrounded by the enemy 
until a counter-attack was started and the Boches driven back. 

The electrical energy required by the amplifying apparatus was furnished 
from storage batteries. These were charged by the Field Signal Battalion 



134 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



at "Maxey" and delivered to "Boston" by motorcycle. From that point they 
were carried out through the trenches to the dugouts. This was hazardous 
work. Custer it seems, had a conscientious conception of the importance of 
his station and tells of an occasion when he volunteered to obtain new bat- 
teries: 

"The man in charge told me that the batteries were run down 
and unless he got some more he would have to shut down, so I 
volunteered to go through a barrage to get some. I had to go by 
trench and it took me three hours to make a round trip. When I 
got out to where the batteries were, Corporal Drew was there and 
he asked me if I came out through the shelling and I said 'Why?' 
He said 'Well, all I have to say is you are a d — - fool.' I told him 
that unless I got back with the batteries the station would have to 
shut down. I had to wait a few minutes as there were some Hun 
planes overhead, but as soon as they were gone I started and when 
I was about half way I was knocked down by three shells that landed 
near me. I picked myself up again and when almost to my dugout 
two shots missed me by a few feet. There was a marsh to the left 
of me and they tore an awful rip in the water and I thought what a 
nice rip they would have given me. I got back just in time, as the 
station had just stopped operating from the batteries 'dying.' ' 

On another occasion, realizing the dangers of repair work by daylight, the 
Radio Intelligence Corporal organized a patrol which was to go out over No 
Man's Land after dark. This did not suit Leasure. If there was a line to 
be repaired it should be done at once. The Corporal told him it was a reckless 
and foolhardy undertaking but that if he wanted to he could go ahead. It 
was bright and clear as he crawled out over the barren strip which separated 
the contending forces. He followed the wire, supposed to be one of the shorter 
ones, examining it for a break. As he crept along and nothing happened, No 
Man's Land seemed little 
different from any other 
shell-torn ground. Soon 
he struck a wire entan- 
glement and picked his 
way through. He did not 
give a thought to the fact 
that this barrier would 
now be a distinct hind- 
rance should it be neces- 
sary to make a hurried 
retreat. As he pro- 
gressed he began to won- 
der at the veracity of the 
man who had reported 




Standing: King, Leasure, McKay, Gallo 
Below: Drew, Custer, Grindel 



File 221.35 Radio 

HEADQUARTERS AIERICA1I EXPEDITIOIJARY FORCES, 
OFFICE OF THE CHIEF SIGIU1 OFFICER. 

26 April, 1918. 

From: Chiof Signal Officer, American Expeditionary Forces. 

To: Officer in Charge, Radio Division, O.C.S.O., a.E.F. 

Subject: Operators of L.S.F.2. 

1. Report forwarded by Captain loghr/ covering the excellent work of Sergeant 
Eugene Peterson and Corporal Paul D. Herrold, of the Radio Intelligence Service, b'ig- 
nal Corpe, and Privates McKay, Grindell and G^llow, of Company E, 406th Telegraph 
Battalion, Signal Corps, tc;np_rarily attached to the Radio Intelligence Service as 
linacwn and substitutes for Listening it.\t!en Ko. 2, during 20 and 21 _pril, at the 
timi. of the offensive on the 26th DiYisi :nal front, has been received. 

2. 'The- coolner-s, steadfastness and resourcefulness shown by these men under 
the trying conditions reported by Lieut. Thompson is a source of satisfaction, cud 
it is requested that you indicate tc thera personally, and through publication of 
this letter in your Weekly Bulletin, ray appreciation of their actions at this time, 

E. RCSSELL, 
Brigadier-General, H. a., 
C.5.O. 

221.35 Radio 1st Iud. 

Hi. 5.O.S., A.E.F., O.C.5.O., 26 April, 1913 - To Captain Robert Loghry, Radio Int. 
Officer, C.C., G.H. .., jimerican L.F.: 

1. Inviting attention to the commendation above from the Chief Signal Officer. 

2. The work of the ucn mentioned has been noted on the records of this office. 

By Direction: 

X. R. u H 1 IMT -* . 
Major, Signal Corps, U.S.A. 

O.R.J.O., RJ3., S.C., U.H. ,.., A.E.F., Hay 7, 1918. 

Copy furnished ^ommandinc Officer, 406th Telegraph Battalion, Signal Corps. 

Robert Loghry, (J I 

Capt.,SC.,0SR» 



Commendation for Gallo, Grindel and McKay 



136 THE FIRST BATTALION 

that this was a short line. Again he met an entanglement, this time of 
barbed wire, and after he had wormed his way through he straightened 
himself slightly to stretch his muscles. A rifle cracked. Zing! A bullet 
sped past his head. No orders were necessary. He dropped like a log and 
slid into a shell hole. He began for the first time to think that perhaps the 
corporal was right. After things seemed quiet he crawled out of the shell 
hole but this time wiggling along flat on the ground and twenty feet further 
he found that the wire had worked loose from the terminal on the copper 
mat. The damage was quickly repaired. He managed to get back to the 
dugout just as the corporal had collected a patrol to go out to search for him. 
Gallo, one of the men trapped by the Boche raid on Seicheprey, has given 
this modest story of his experiences: 

"We had four mats, something like a wire screen, about twenty- 
four by thirty inches. These were buried in the ground about a foot 
deep — one north, one south, one east, and one west — from one to two 
hundred feet away from our station, the connection made with twisted 
pair. We had a four-point control switch in the office so that we 
could switch the mats singly or in pairs. 

"The amplifiers were quite sensitive. We could pick up all the 
conversations over our own American telephones, field buzzers, etc., 
as well as the French and German telephones and telegraph. Our 
duties were to listen in and put down in writing everything that 
was heard, so we were playing spy both on our men and the Germans. 
The Germans made very little use of their telephones at this point, 
but their field buzzers and wireless were used considerably. During 
my first watch of four hours I copied sixteen pages of conversations, 
buzzers, wireless, etc. 

"Our first week was uneventful. They shelled us continually 
during the day. There was a barrage every night about nine, usually 
lasting until eleven or twelve. Our Infantry fell back frequently, but 
we were never notified as no one in charge seemed to know where 
we were or what we were doing. 

"After six days we were relieved and sent to Toul. In another six 
days we returned on our second shift. On April 21st the Germans 
pulled off an attack. The barrages started at three o'clock in the 
morning and kept on advancing. About five-thirty or six o'clock the 
barrage passed over us. The Germans were soon all around us, past 
us and everywhere, but some way or other they missed our place. 
Our station was kept working until six in the morning but then the 
noise was so terrific, our lines were so shot up, and the Germans 
were so close, that we could do nothing. Our orders were to keep 
the station going as long as possible. The day before we had received 
a Western Electric amplifier and telephones and had specific orders, 
in case of an attack or of being cornered, to dismantle the station and 
destroy instruments before the Germans got hold of them. So we 
had everything in readiness to destroy all instruments. The station 



ADVENTURES IN NO MAN'S LAND 137 

records I hid under some stones near our place. At seven o'clock 
our station was reconnected as the Germans were pushed back and 
imminent danger of their getting our equipment had passed. 

"The first night following the battle we gathered up all the rein- 
forcements we could get which were four artillery men, four infantry 
men and two or three runners, in all thirteen or fourteen men. We 
had our pistols, one automatic rifle and seven or eight ordinary rifles 
and a few grenades. Starting at five in the afternoon, every man of 
our force had to stand one hour watch during the night. Another 
barrage started about 3 130, but lasted only a few hours. This night 
we were prepared for almost anything but nothing turned up. 

"The day after the raid our Lieutenant had searched everywhere, 
all the field hospitals and bases as well, but could not locate us. 
They gave us up as either killed or captured but at last they found us 
and we were ordered out and dismantled the station entirely." 

On account of the conduct of the men at the listening post during this 
Seicheprey raid, the Chief Signal Officer wrote a letter commenting upon their 
"coolness, steadfastness and resourcefulness under trying conditions." 

Service in the listening posts continued during May and June, each com- 
pany completing two tours of duty. The responsibility was taken over by 
the Army Signal troops when the 406th hurried to the Marne with the First 
Army Corps late in June. 




Chapter XVI 



"Where Do We Go from Here?" 




'ERSATILITY might be called an outstanding characteristic of the men 
of the Battalion. A shining example of this trait, and almost the same 
story might have been told by any other member of the Battalion, is 
the following from Fest: "Starting at Chaumont I was official bugler, bar- 
ber, K. P., post-hole digger, pole-setter, mule-driver, tree-trimmer, mailman, 
general interpreter, custodian of bicycles, Ford windshield manufacturer and 
fire marshal; at Rimacourt, M. P.; at Marnay, country storekeeper and 
medical man; at Vaucouleurs, motorcycle driver." 

Koser gives an example of the same trait. "Sergeant Binder said one day, 

" 'Can you ride a motorcycle?' 

' 'Sure!' said I. I never had, but I scented excitement. I reported to the 
Major and swore I could ride anything on two wheels. I was ordered to 
Chaumont on a small 8-cylinder English motorcycle. I studied the instruction 
book a bit, said a prayer, wished myself luck, climbed aboard, shut my eyes 
and let 'er go. As I left the court, a Captain was entering. Lucky thing 
for him that he was quick on his feet. He did not have a chance to say a 
word for I was a mile down the road before he knew what had happened." 

Tact was another outstanding quality. "Slim" Spangler was the star 
"tactitian." At a public bathhouse at Neufchateau he wandered about 
looking for a vacant dressing room. He came to one which was apparently 

138 



"WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?" 139 

unoccupied. He tried the door. A woman screamed. "Pardon Monsieur, 
pardon Monsieur", said "Slim" as he backed away. 

The continued German successes during the Spring of 1 9 1 8 made the First 
Army Corps restless. Some of the divisions were in the trenches but not 
under American tactical command. There was a feeling that an American 
Army under American command, trained in the American theory, viz., suc- 
cessful warfare can be waged only by an army instilled with the offensive 
rather than the defensive idea, would show the Boche a trick or two. Time 
and again it was rumored that the First Corps would be concentrated. But 
the German advance to the west made the situation so critical that the di- 
visions could not be collected and the First Corps continued in administrative 
command only. 

The area surrounding Corps Headquarters was covered with French 
military and civil wires. It seemed superfluous therefore to extend the con- 
struction of American telephone lines. Negotiations with the French resulted 
in the acquisition of a number of leased circuits. One long line was built up 
by connecting together French wires from Neufchateau by way of Bar le Due 
and Souilly to the Headquarters of the Second Division at Sommedieu near 
Verdun; another connected the Forty-second Division at Baccarat by way of 
Nancy to Corps Headquarters, American built circuits reaching from that 
point to the Twenty-sixth Division at Boucq. During the negotiations, 
although both the Major and Captain Gauss had acquired a fair French 
vocabulary, Thevelin's services were most necessary and he was ordered to 
report at Battalion Headquarters. With much protest "and after many good- 
byes, Thevelin insisting "I belongs to Coompanie 'D'," departed from Har- 
monville, remarking dejectedly: "Last year on my birthday I am wounded. 
This year I leaves Coompanie 'D.' I don't want other birthdays to come." 

Around Neufchateau there were many interesting mademoiselles. One of 
the chauffeurs of Company "E" became interested in a particularly attractive 
one. That she was the daughter of the village coffin maker did not deter the 
gay suitor. One evening he called on her, wearing a new raincoat of which he 
was very proud. It made quite an impression on the cherie. However, other 
subjects so distracted the mind of the caller that he forgot to take it when 
he left. A few days later it rained and he was not quite certain as to where he 
had left the slicker. He called on the coffin maker's daughter but she said 
very sweetly that she knew nothing about it. He was somewhat surprised 
when the Battalion marched out of Neufchateau in the rain, to see his sweet- 
heart waving an enthusiastic farewell, clad in the lost coat. 

A miscellany of small jobs took up the latter part of April and May. The 
headquarters of an air group was established at Ourches and a circuit was 
built to connect it to the line leading north from Vaucouleurs. The air 




LIFE IN FRANCE 



HO 



"WHERE BO WE GO FROM HERE?" 141 

group had erected a new pole line upon which the telephone wires were strung 
by Company "D." After the job was completed a complaint reached the 
Battalion to the effect that the Ourches switchboard could not get satisfactory 
connections over this line. An investigation disclosed the fact that the air 
group had decided after the wires were placed, to reroute the pole line. Being 
short of poles they took out a dozen of those to which the telephone wires 
were attached, leaving a long span of wire without support. The commander 
of the air group when he knew the facts, absolved the Battalion from blame 
for the poor service. As the French were building a new line across the coun- 
try permission was obtained to attach the wires to this line. Satisfactory 
service was thus reestablished. Two other air fields were prepared, one 
north of Vaucouleurs and one north of Toul. These were also wired and 
connected to the American system. 

Kelly, a little Irishman from Texas was assigned to the Battalion as a 
telegraph operator, and stationed at Toul. One day "Uncle," as Colonel 
Voris was familiarly known, walked into the office. Kelly was sweeping 
and as soon as he spied the Colonel, he dropped the broom and stood at 
attention. He looked neither to the right nor to the left. Voris looked at 
Kelly and said : 

"One day when I come in here the 406th is as military as h . The 

next time I come in they don't know a thing about it." 

Kelly remained stiff as a broomstick. 

"You don't like my jokes do you, Kelly?" asked Voris. 

"Y-Y-Yes, Sir," stammered Kelly. 

"D it! Why don't you stand at ease then?" 

There were so many circuits now in the northern area that Captain Gauss, 
who was charged with the general supervision of maintenance, decided to 
establish a testing station at Vaucouleurs. There were no American troops 
in the town at the time, but a small room was obtained not far from the rail- 
road along which the principal lines were located. Bailey put up his test 
boards and with Green and Callahan, took over the test station and the 
maintenance of the lines. Harris, who upon the completion of the circuits 
to Menil la Tour had remained with the Signal men of the First and Twenty- 
sixth Divisions, also came under the supervision of this station. 

The French insisted that all repairs on lines leased from them should be 
done by French troops. They asked that when cases of trouble developed, 
reports should be made to them. This practice, however, usually resulted in 
delays and consequently telephones were almost certain to remain out of ser- 
vice for days until the French would clear the trouble. This was not the kind 
of maintenance the men of the Battalion were accustomed to, and it was not 
infrequent when trouble developed, for one of the men to slip out of camp and 



I 4 2 



THE FIRST B ATT ALIO N 




1 and 2 — A Couple of Lieut. Meigs' Pole Yards 
3 — "Woe to the Man Who Was Late at Reveille!" 

clear the trouble before the reports were made to the French. Harris became 
an expert at this "gum-shoe" work. 

Some of the leased French circuits developed queer symptoms, becoming 
veritable will-o'-the-wisps. Time after time the lines were out of order. 
And each time the line "came clear" before the trouble could be located. An 
inspection trip was made over the line. The French were found to be string- 
ing a new circuit on the same poles with the leased circuits, apparently ob- 
livious to the fact that the new wire was "crossing" the working circuits. 
After a conference, the French agreed to allow the Americans to take care of 
the leased circuits until the French linemen finished their job. The French 
method of stringing wire was primitive. Two men, one on each side of the 
pole line, carried the coils unwinding them as they walked along. The climber 
accompanying these men, as each pole was reached, pulled the wire tight by 
hand and made it fast. The new circuit was being placed on the top brackets 
of the poles and what was happening to the lower circuits as they became 
crossed and short circuited by the new wire may readily be seen. Dickson 
took charge of the maintenance and his men laid emergency wire along the 
ground where the French were working and connected this for use in place of 
the circuits on the poles. As soon as the French had completed a section, the 
emergency wire was moved on and the regular circuits restored to service. 



WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? 



H3 



Business to the north increased and the circuit which had been "cut" to 
connect Ourches, or "Flying Fish" as it was coded, was needed for "through" 
messages. Further, this air group at Ourches required several additional lines. 
Lieutenant Price made a survey of a route from the air field across the meadows 
to the main highway west of Pagny, there to connect with the French leased 
circuits. But authority to build the line was not obtained until the day before 
it was required. Consequently it was necessary for the entire Company to 
pitch in, digging holes, hauling poles, distributing material and stringing wire. 

The Dircctcur of the Bureau des Postes at Toul sent a lineman to Pagny to 
point out the French circuits to be used in making the connection. Each 
French lineman had his own sections in which he worked and the only record of 
circuits and poles seemed to be contained in the little memorandum book car- 
ried in his pocket. The lineman appeared at the junction with his book and 
designated the wires to be used. Harris however, had already been testing 
out the various circuits and disagreed with the Frenchman. There was no 
chance for an argument with the latter for he evidently had a high regard for 
American telephone men. He readily agreed with Harris and to show that his 
heart was in the right place, he changed the notes in his book to correspond. 
The line was completed three hours earlier than had been promised. A small 
distribution system was placed at the Ourches flying field. And here, as in 
similar installations near Vaucouleurs and Toul, all circuits to the hangars and 
around the fields were for obvious reasons placed underground. 

Lieutenant Meigs' pole records by this time had become extremely com- 
plex. Poles had been obtained from various yards and by the authority of 
various Directeurs des Postes, usually in a hurry, and the memoranda which 
the Supply Officer received were not always dependable. He therefore 
organized a system of American pole yards at various convenient locations. 
The poles usually arrived 
on Sundays and freight 
cars had to be unloaded 
promptly. Woe to the 
man who was late at rev- 
eille! He was sure to 
receive an assignment to 
the next Sunday unload- 
ing job. .Speaking of 
speed in getting ready for 
reveille, Jerry Donbaugh 
and Sam Bigham were 
the prize winners. It is 

said that at the Call, all " Officers Are Never Satisfied, Anyway ! 




i 4 4 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



Jerry had to do was put on his boots. With Sam it was said to be different. 
He had to throw back his blankets and light his pipe before he was prepared 
for the day. 

"African golf," "leaping dominoes," or just plain "craps," was the favorite 
indoor sport in the A. E. F. immediately following pay day. One night in 
the barracks at Neufchateau there were several games in progress. For some 
reason — beer fini, perhaps — the Cafe Vallon was not patronized. "Big Dick" 
and "Little Joe" have a musical sound to the American ear, but "Grande 
Richard" and "Petit Gho" present difficulties. However, the "bones" will 




Another View of Harmonville 

roll just as well for francs, even though they do look like cigarette coupons, 
as for "two-bit" pieces. As the money gravitated to a few pockets, the 
games decreased in number until there was just one game going — and this was 
composed of the winners of the other games. But before the money could 
accumulate in any one pocket somebody discovered a cootie and "rolling the 
bones" degenerated into "reading shirts." It was said that this was the first, 
last, and only time that cooties broke up a crap game in the 406th. 

The scattered construction details and maintenance responsibilities during 
the period of watchful waiting at Neufchateau did not keep the men suffi- 
ciently busy to suit those in command. Officers are never satisfied, anyway! 
So a drill and training program was arranged which included athletic games. 
At Neufchateau Company "E" had the use of various fields, but at Harmon- 



WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? 



'45 



ville the entire countryside was under cultivation, and the setting-up exer- 
cises and drills were held in the town. The first day provided an excuse for a 
town holiday to see the Captain shout his commands from a manure wagon. 
The first week ended with a Battalion review on a field near Neufchateau. 
New instructions had been issued for the operation of truck trains and convoys, 
and the trip from Harmonville was used for practice. At the review, as the 
two Companies were lined up at attention, Major Hubbell called Gallo, Grindel 






The Pistol Match 






The Ball Game 



AFTER THE REVIEW AT NEUFCHATEAU 




and McKay of Company "E" to the front and read the letter of commenda- 
tion received for their action during the German raid at Seicheprey while they 
were on listening post duty. 

After the review the Battalion marched into Neufchateau where Vance 
had prepared mess. This was followed by a pistol match between picked 
teams from the two Companies, "E" winning by a narrow margin. Then 
came a ball game and when it was called off on account of rain "D" was so 
far in the lead that all count of the score had been lost. The "D" men had 
their revenge for the drubbing "E" had given them two or three weeks before. 
There was plenty of "African golf" to satisfy all. As a matter of fact it was 



1 46 



THE FIRST B ATT A LI ON 




The Practice Move 

said that in the 406th this game reached the highest state of perfection the 
world has ever known. 

There was an unfortunate incident connected with this reunion. As the 
Companies marched down the road from the parade ground "Smoke," the 
mascot who had been with Company "E" since the early days at Monmouth 
Park, was run over and killed by a dispatch rider. There were real tears 
shed as Company "E" buried him near a pine woods just north of Neufchateau. 

A number of dilapidated trucks were turned over to the Battalion at this 
time. They had supposedly outlived their usefulness, but after being over- 
hauled by the motor men of the 406th were put to work. It is interesting 
to note that some of the revamped relics were still in active service with the 
Battalion when the Armistice was signed. 

When the Motor Transport Corps was organized, men from all signal 
units hastened to the coast before the new organization began to function, to 
collect trucks shipped to the Signal Corps. Urffer, Gruninger and Orr pro- 
ceeded to La Pallice and the trucks, although as yet without bodies, were 
loaded with engineer supplies for the base being established at Gievres. From 
this point the convoy moved to Nevers to secure bodies. The Boche drive 
toward Paris was then at its height. The entire train was loaded with Signal 



JJ'HERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? 



*47 



Corps supplies and started toward the front, via Paris. But at Paris it was 
held for fifteen days and then sent to Lieusant. After unloading it was 
directed to return to Nevers. "D" Company was without the services of its 
shop foreman and two of its best chauffeurs all this time. It was not until 
July, at La Ferte, after twelve hundred miles of traveling that they rejoined 
the Battalion. 

Shortly after the review it was decided to move "D" Company to Neuf- 
chateau to facilitate Battalion drills. The move from Harmonville was made 
strictly in accordance with the new regulations governing truck convoys. 
The trip was slow and hot and dusty but by noon the barracks on the hill 
north of Rouceux were occupied. 

During the ensuing days everything was put in shape for a move to any 
point on the entire western front. Under the supervision of Lieutenants 
Foust and Price tools and material were carefully weighed with a view to ascer- 
taining what, in addition to the men and their baggage, might be carried on 
the Battalion trucks. It was found that enough equipment could be carried to 
install a system of three switchboard positions and seventy-five telephones, to 
build twenty kilometers of eight-wire line, thirty kilometers of two-wire line, 
and about fifty kilometers of insulated field line. In addition to this material 
the Battalion carried a complete machine shop with each Company and the 
gasoline engine with its air compressor and pneumatic rock drill apparatus. 

With fuel aboard, this train of thirty trucks, six light delivery trucks, 
three touring cars, twenty-one motorcycles and the wheezy and complaining 
ambulance could travel two hundred and fifty kilometers. 

Loading schedules were prepared and a program arranged whereby on 
short notice a practice move could be made. Various sections of the barracks 
were designated as freight cars and surplus material, tools and winter clothing, 
which at the time was 
entirely unnecessary, 
were "loaded" for ship- 
ment. On Monday May 
twenty-seventh at eight 
o'clock in the evening 
the order arrived for the 
trial trip. By two the 
next morning everything 
was in readiness. The con- 
voy was formed at eight 
after a fast and furious 
inspection of ail of the 

quarters and grounds. "Smoke." "Hardtack" in the Background 




14* 



THE FIRST BATTALION 




On the Line from Colombey to Franconville 

Captain Gauss had been transferred to the Chief Signal Office of the Corps, 
and on the morning of the move Lieutenant Price was taken from "D" Com- 
pany to become Battalion Adjutant. Lieutenants Foust, Hasskarl and 
Suddath had been sent to the Signal School at Gondrecourt and, with the 
exception of Donaldson, the lieutenants who were attached to the Battalion 
for training had left. With a scanty remnant of officers the column started. 
There were many halts during the morning for adjustments of loads and the 
noon mess was held just outside of Certellieux. In the afternoon the convoy 
moved steadily along until it reached Sartes, the end of the journey. The 
return trip on the following day went along without a hitch, demonstrating 
the value of the practice. An inspection was ordered for all motor vehicles 
and personal equipment within five hours after the units returned to camp. 
But a new job arose and "E" Company escaped the inspection. 

Company "E's" assignment was the construction of a line to connect 
a headquarters of British bombing squadrons at Autigny with American 
Headquarters at Chaumont. The British General was in a hurry for the 
service. Captain Wattles with his Company and with Fullerton and his air 
outfit beat the schedule, completing the circuits before the British Signal men 
were ready to use them. The British Commander was duly appreciative and 
expressed his feeling in a letter to the Chief Signal Officer. 

By proclamation of General Pershing, Memorial Day was set aside as a 
holiday on which honor would be paid to the growing list of American dead. 
The men of the Battalion contributed funds with which a stone slab and 
cross had been purchased and erected over Hollowell's grave. Arrangements 
were made with a Y. M. C. A. worker, Rev. Smith, formerly a Methodist 
minister in Pasadena, California, to conduct services. Both Companies 



WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?" 



149 



scoured the neighborhood for flowers and when the procession started from 
"D" Company's barracks on the top of the hill, each section chief carried a 
bouquet collected by his men. Company "E" fell into the column as it 
passed their barracks and at the Y. M. C. A. the minister joined the procession 
which marched to the Rouceux cemetery. The Battalion was formed around 
the grave and one by one the section chiefs deposited their flowers. Reverend 
Smith based his remarks on the faithfulness of Hollowell, made a plea that 
the men give a good account of themselves and ended with a prayer that they 
all might profit by the lesson taught by Hollowell's character. After taps by 
Fest and Hale, the men silently returned to their quarters. 

June dragged along and the First Corps still remained at Neufchateau. 
To be sure, there were miscellaneous jobs to occupy the time. A section from 
Company "E" was sent under Lieutenant Donaldson and Electrician Dickson 
to Goviller to build a line for the British Air Service, a large independent unit 
of which had been located in the Baccarat sector. The line extended 'from 
Colombey les Belles to Franconville, the Headquarters of the British General. 
The Company "E" detachment was the first group of Americans to be seen 
in the neighborhood of Goviller and the camp, particularly the kitchen, drew 
the usual crowd of curious civilians. The detachment remained at Goviller 
for a few days, many of the men being laid up with the "three-day fever," a 
light form of influenza. The next jump was to Crantenoy from which place 
the circuits were continued to Bayon. At Crantenoy tents were pitched in a 
large field adjacent to a chateau, the occupants of which claimed to be descen- 
dants of an ancient King Daglebert and they welcomed the Signal men, enter- 
taining them royally. Thence the circuits passed through the old cities of 
Vezelise and Tantonville. The streets in these towns were extremely crooked 
and all of the wire fixtures were placed on the tops of steep roofed buildings 
which slowed up the work. There was in Tantonville one of the largest brew- 
eries in France and this did not speed the construction. 

The epidemic of "flu" 
hit the camp at Neufcha- 
teau. It went through 
barracks and tents at- 
tacking practically every 
one. It also caught the 
detachments which were 
billeted in Madame 
Garcin's garage. These 
latter were cared for most 
solicitously. They were 

put tO bed and served Taps by Fest and Hale 




i co 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



Mme. Garcin 
and Capt. Griest 




Mme. Garcin's Home 



with the best of food and were 
not allowed to move until Ala- 
dame pronounced them well. 

When the line to Bayon had 
been completed Lieutenant Don- 
aldson moved his detachment to 
Baccarat to take up the construc- 
tion of signal lines for the light railways leading toward the front. Tentative 
plans covering these lines had been prepared at Tours and showed the rail- 
ways extending across No Man's Land and into the trenches occupied by the 
Germans ! Needless to say, all the material suggested by the original plans was 
not required. The detachment was billeted in a large glass factory, the ground 
floor being occupied by over a thousand horses and mules. Before the arrival of 
any of the material, however, the detachment was ordered to rejoin the Company. 

Surveys had been made for rebuilding the line from Neufchateau through 
Gondrecourt to Abainville. This line had been originally built by details of 
Infantry under the direction of a Field Signal Battalion, and many of the poles 
were planted to an insufficient depth. Moreover, the poles were placed in 
many cases so close to the trees that there was no room for crossarms. It 
seemed very likely that there would be need for additional circuits leading in 



"tf'HERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?" 151 

this direction. A new line with three circuits was therefore built, using the old 
material. This work was handled by Company "D" with Miller in charge 
of the platoon working south from Gondrecourt and Coates and Woodward 
working north from Greux. Miller's section continued the line to Abainville, 
where a large railroad center was nearing completion. When the circuits were 
finished and material was about to be ordered for the distribution system 
around the railroad shops, these shops were ordered abandoned because the 
French feared that they were too close to the front. After the work had been 
suspended for two or three weeks it was again taken up and the shops com- 
pleted. This was another illustration of the general indecision and unsettle- 
ment and uncertainty and doubt which existed in the Allied forces early in 
June. The German armies were preparing for their last terrific drive and 
no one could foresee even from one day to the next what might happen. 

The 319th and 322nd Field Signal Battalions had arrived in the area, the 
319th being held for the Army and the 322nd assigned to the First Corps. 
Large details of men from each of these Battalions were loaned to Company 
"D" to provide additional labor and to familiarize them with the nature of 
the work being done for the Corps. These men helped tremendously in com- 
pleting the various jobs in the early part of June. 

There was a large Air depot at Colombey and Collins with a detachment 
equipped it, while Coates with a detail installed a communication system for 
a new Air field just east of that town. 

Still no definite orders came. While the Corps continued to mark time, 
surveys were made, poles delivered and Miller's detachment including men 
from the 322nd Battalion worked out of Colombey on the line to Toul. At 
this time Lindley, Pfefferle, Curley, Ross and Smith, Company "E" teleg- 
raphers, were sent to the vicinity of Paris to operate Signal Corps offices and 
were lost to the Battalion until September. 

It was the middle of June before the suspense was relieved. The First 
Army Corps was ordered to prepare for action. Company "E" was selected 
to go with the advance party and "D" was ordered to take over all of the work 
near Neufchateau and close out the affairs of the Battalion. All arrangements 
were made with the greatest secrecy. While few knew the destination of the 
organization many suspected that it would be in the vicinity of Chateau 
Thierry, which seemed likely to become the center of the next German drive. 
The 322nd Battalion was also to accompany the Corps and all of its men 
who had been working with the 406th returned to their own headquarters 
and were replaced by additional details from the 319th. 

On June seventeenth Company "E" left Neufchateau. A feeling of 
determination and satisfaction such as they had not heretofore known kept 
spirits high. One thing was certain. Waiting was over. Action was near. 



-.» 





m i m 














i D) • 


V 


l M 



Chapter XVII 



On the Ma rue 



EARLY on the morning of June seventeenth Lieutenant Price with Inter- 
preter Thevelin and Sergeant Gretzler set out. They started in ad- 
vance so that no time would be lost in surveys and other preliminary 
work at the new headquarters when the men with the installation material 
arrived. Following Lieutenant Price was Captain Wattles with Electrician 
Lowe, Sergeants Collins, Mumford and Russell and a fleet of the fastest trucks 
loaded with switchboards, telephones, telegraph instruments, a supply of wire 
and a force of installers and operators. Last came the heavy trucks with the 
remainder of the Company and the Headquarters men and supplies. 

La Ferte sous Jouarre, a town on the Marne, about twenty kilometers 
west of Chateau Thierry proved to be the destination. When the Americans 
arrived the region was under control of the Third French Corps. 

The advance detail completed a survey of the most pressing work by the 
time Captain Wattles and his "flying squadron" drove into the town on the 
afternoon of the eighteenth. The men had spent two days on the road but 
they set to work immediately, and before letting up for the night ten thousand 
feet of wire had been placed and two switchboards and thirty telephones were 
working. Sergeant Mumford with Bailey and Gaghagen handled the switch- 
board work and Sergeant Russell with his linemen put up the circuits. The 
bridge across the Marne at this point had been blown up by the British in 

152 



ON THE MARNE 



*53 



1 914 to check the advance of the on-coming Boche and it was necessary for 
Russell and his men to borrow boats in order to string the lines across the 
river. 

The following morning Corps officers began to arrive. Before evening 
more than sixteen miles of wire, all of which was attached to fixtures on the 
tops of the steep-roofed houses, had been strung and twenty additional tele- 
phones installed. On the evening of the nineteenth the remainder of Com- 
pany "E" arrived and commenced work on the installation of a large switch- 




La Ferte sous Jouarre 

board and an electric lighting plant. The following day Sergeant Adams 
strung a line to General Liggett's chateau. Lynch organized the switchboard 
operating and with Cavanagh and MacRonald listed the various French 
circuit routings. Hannam was dispatched meanwhile with a few men from 
the 322nd Battalion to operate an office at Meaux, the rear echelon of the 
Second Division. 

Most of the billets in France were stables or muddy fields. But here was 
an exception. These were located in a small suburb to the east, La Petite 
Ventuil, consisting mainly of summer homes of Parisians. Danley describes 
them: 



154 



THE FIRST BATTALION 




The Billets at La Ferte 



"These were the finest billets that we had in France — practically 
new houses, with only seven men in a room, hardwood floors, water 
inside, and a kitchen stove, a flower garden in the rear, and an iron 
fence around the place." 

Company "D" did not leave Neufchateau until a week after Company 
"E." The time was spent in settling bills and in shipping tools and supplies 
which had been left by the truck trains. With the help of Captain Gauss 
who had remained to represent the Corps Signal Officer, the maintenance and 
construction activities in the area were transferred to the Fifth Army Corps. 
Captain Griest was assisted by Lieutenant Guy who at this time was at- 
tached to Company "D" and who proved a most capable and enthusiastic 
addition. 

Murdaugh of "D" had taken over the light railway lines at Baccarat from 
Lieutenant Donaldson before Company "E" left Neufchateau and he re- 
mained there to finish the work. "Dad's" detail was made up largely from the 
319th Field Battalion with Jensen, Donbaugh and Buehler to help with the 
supervision, and Althouse and Walkup to handle the motor end. This de- 
tachment took over quarters in a glass factory and reveled in the supply of 



ON THE MJRNE 



155 



hot water from the single furnace left unharmed by the Boehes during their 
brief occupation of Baccarat in 191 4. There was a story that the owner of the 
glass works had, by the payment of a sum to the German government, secured 
the promise that his factory would not be molested. But on one of their 
nightly bombing excursions the Boehes upset the story by dropping a bomb 
in the middle of the factory. It also upset Murdaugh and his two "chronom- 
eters." Dad always wore two watches while in France. One of them was set 
for Paris time and the other for "West Chester." When he had a task to per- 
form, Paris time was used. When he was curious as to what "Joe-boy" back 
home might be doing, the West Chester timepiece was consulted. Miller with 
Haislop and Spangler were left behind to finish the line from Colombey to 
Toul, Longo remaining with them to obtain the rights of way. The rest of 
Company "D" joined "E" at La Ferte. 

Pessimism was rampant in the Allied Armies. The German Army, al- 
though at tremendous sacrifices, was approaching Paris ; every one seemed to 
agree that if he was willing to pay the price the Hun could make a further 
advance and that if he reached Meaux, about ten kilometers west of La Ferte, 
he might from this point destroy the French capital by shell fire. At French 
Headquarters little was discussed except the possibility of further retirement. 




MSJfe 



Baccarat 



156 THE FIRST BATTALION 

In the rear, French soldiers were everywhere engaged in digging trenches and 
constructing entanglements along different lines of resistance. All over the 
city of La Ferte were plastered official proclamations warning all civilians to 
leave the town. Army trucks were provided to carry citizens toward the 
rear, while those who were fortunate enough to own carts dragged them down 
the road with motley loads. A common sight was an old man leading an 
ancient horse hitched to a cart heaped high with clothing and furniture; 
perched on the top of the load a sad-faced old woman and bringing up the rear, 
the younger members of the family leading a weary cow. 

Men from the Battalion were dispatched hither and thither on motor- 
cycles to survey existing telephone lines. Should any line be adopted as the 
main axis for further retreat, telephone facilities would be needed quickly. On 
one of these trips Fest and Moss had an experience worth repeating: 

"Moss and I started from La Ferte and worked toward Rebais. 
On a narrow road we caught up to a big touring car which appeared, 
from a rear view, to belong to a General. We trailed him for some 
time. He was making about fifteen miles an hour and we were 
afraid to pass him and hand him all the dust for he had a better 
job than we. So we followed along for another kilometer and finally 
decided to take a chance. His driver turned sharply sending us into 
the ditch, our machine falling on its side with the side car straight 
up and Moss tumbled over me with his long legs. The officer in 
the car, a Colonel, immediately jumped out and asked if we were 
hurt. Seeing that we were both all right, he looked over our machine. 
It was a wreck. At this very turn there was a little woods which 
sheltered an army repair shop and the Colonel told the commanding 
officer of the outfit to put his best mechanics on the job. At noon, 
after a very good dinner at the camp, we were on our way. 

"Getting out on the main highway, in the excitement we became 
confused with the map. The first thing we knew we heard a noise. 
Down came a house. A few seconds later another shell came over 
and got the barn, so we thought we had better find out where we 
were. We asked an M. P. who told us we were three and a half 
kilometers from Chateau Thierry. I want to assure you that we did 
not have nor want any more business in that neck of the woods." 

Company "E," assisted by a few operators from "D," continued to manage 
the Headquarters telephone service and to maintain the lines leading toward 
the divisions. These lines had been hastily thrown together and in many 
cases were under shell fire. There was consequently an enormous amount 
of trouble to be cleared and rebuilding to be done. In this work, Davis, Burns 
and Drew had many twenty-four-hour tricks out on the shell-torn circuits. 

To guard against interruptions to the service due to bombing, all circuits 
were placed underground for some distance from the switchboard. Thus, if a 
shell landed in the exchange, the ends of the buried circuits could readily be 



ON THE MARNE 



r 57 



connected to a new switchboard. An extra line was built to carry a duplicate 
set of circuits to the front. Where this latter line crossed the Marne, it ran 
through two sets of submarine cables some distance apart. Every precaution 
was taken to insure continuous communication. 

The plant grew rapidly and before long there was an equipment of a 
hundred and thirty lines terminating on the La Ferte board and three tele- 
graph instruments were working constantly to Paris and to the adjoining 
French and American Divisions. Test stations were placed along the lines 
leading to the 3rd and 26th Divisions so that the sector assigned to the Bat- 
talion for maintenance might be kept under constant supervision. 

To "D" Company was assigned the work in the rear areas and after several 
days of surveying to determine the possibilities of existing lines, orders were 
issued for wiring the new 
air fields at Saints and 
Ormeaux. Cowan, now 
a Master Signal Electri- 
cian, supervised the job. 
The Air men were anxious 
to have a direct telephone 
wire to the French Air 
Headquarters at Paris 
but the Corps Signal 
Officer explained to the 
new "subscribers" that 
they were a part of the 
First Corps and any busi- 
ness they might have with the big city could be handled through the switch- 
board at Corps Headquarters. 

About the time this job was finished, Colonel Mitchel decided that it 
would not be wise for the aviators to live near the field. They were therefore 
moved into a chateau which had originally been selected for the headquarters 
of the outfit. Another chateau was found for headquarters. It was at Haute 
Feuille, some five kilometers from the nearest line, and this too was connected. 

On the fourth of July at noon in the Chateau de Lathny, the First Corps 
of the American Army officially took over from our Allies the command of the 
sector, being given control of a seven-kilometer front at the point where the 
enemy had thrust nearest to Paris. There were some French troops in the 
sector. This was the first time since the American Revolution that American 
officers commanded foreign troops. The First Corps in turn was a part of 
General Degoutte's Vlth French Army. 

Things were getting "warm" and every one worked at top speed fixing up 




Co. "D" was Billeted Near an Inviting Stream. 



K* 



THE FIRST B ATT A LION 




General Degoutte 



the lines, many of which were in bad shape on 
account of the necessarily rapid installation 
and hasty repair work. Now that the Corps 
was in control of the sector, the Battalion took 
over from the French all exchanges in the 
area. In many cases the French detail de- 
parted immediately upon the arrival of the 
Americans. As a consequence the making 
of office records was a long and tedious task 
for all of the labels and tags were in French 
as were the circuit maps which had been left 
behind. 

On July fifth Sergeant Dickson with Mohr, 
Bohn, Callahan, O. H. McKinney and Green 
of "E" Company as his linemen, and Eicholtz 
and other "D" Company men as operators, 
advanced to Montreuil Aux Lions and prepared 
to take over the French exchange at that point. The central office had been 
set up by the French in the remains of the postoffice. Montreuil was under 
fire and it was thought best to set up an exchange in the cellar of a house near 
the edge of the town, the roof being reinforced and protected by logs, stone and 
sand. Two thirty-line French switchboards were installed in the cellar and 
to the surprise of the French, the "cut" from the old switchboard in the post- 
office was completed without a hitch. One of the new boards upon which 
terminated most of the French circuits was operated by French soldiers and 
the other by Dickson's men. Dickson's knowledge of French was invaluable. 
On July fourteenth, the spasmodic shelling increased to such intensity that the 
small force found it impossible to maintain service and Sergeant Russell's 
section was dispatched from La Ferte sous Jouarre to assist. There was 
plenty of excitement. At night German planes dropped flares in their efforts 
to locate American batteries. One of these set fire to a pile of fagots. Bombs 
were dropping everywhere. Dickson's gang piled out and extinguished the 
blaze which was making their home entirely too conspicuous. Just then the 
main lines going down over the hill to the Second Division ceased functioning. 
Callahan, Green, Jennings, McKinney, Beck and Mohr rushed down the hill 
through mud and darkness. Over devasted fields and roads they stumbled 
until they found the breaks and repaired them. 

During the close cooperation between the men of the two nationalities, 
as at Montreuil, the Battalion operators managed to pick up considerable 
French, a valuable asset in switchboard operation. Dickson had an oppor- 
tunity to appreciate the life of a French "noncom" : 



ON THE MARNE 



159 



"While at Montreuil, I was constantly associated with French 
soldiers and had ample opportunity to compare their living with that 
of our men. For some time I messed with the French noncommis- 
sioned officers here. The mess was most formal even when shells 
were going over. No one thought of sitting down at the table until 
the ranking noncom, the adjutant in this case, had seated himself. 
Then they would all arrange themselves according to grade, the 
adjutant being at the head of the table, the ranking sergeant next 
and so on down to the end of the table where sat the lowest corporal. 
Privates were not allowed at the same table. The meals were 
exceptionally good and were always served in courses. First would 
come the soup, then vegetables, followed by meat, then the inevitable 
salade and if fortunate, sometimes cheese and nuts before the black 
coffee. With all this of course was a liberal supply of Pinard of 
which the poilu is furnished almost one quart each day in addition 
to a good 'shot' of cognac. Each meal usually consumed the better 
part of two hours and was considered over only when the adjutant ^ 
arose after he had finished sipping his coffee. 

"Compare this with the fare of a Yankee noncom who lands at 
the kitchen at mess time, grabs a hunk of bread, has his beans tossed 
at his mess kit and usually dips out his own cup of coffee, then bolts 
it all as quickly as possible, sitting under a tree or on a cobblestone. 
He dips his mess kit in a bucket of soapy water and calls it a meal. 
Such a procedure would probably take all the glory out of life for 
a French noncom." 



The headquarters of the 167th French Division had been established at 
Dhuisy and additional circuits were required to 
connect this office with the American Head- 
quarters, Dhuisy already being connected to the 
Vlth French Army at Trilport. The 406th had 
all the work it could handle, so the Dhuisy 
circuits were built by details from the 322nd but 
under the direction of Lutz of the 406th. This 
was a light line carrying one eight-pin crossarm 
and in the woods south of Dhuisy it dropped to 
a "rambas" — aline of stout stakes about waist 
high carrying circuits of insulated wire attached 
to wooden knobs. 

Sergeant Danley with Grindel, Gallo and 
Richards took over the office at Champigny at 
the same time that Dickson went to Montreuil. 
Sergeant Adams at this time went to Chelles to 
construct lines for the Fifth Marines. Koser 

Entrance to Dickson s Home 

and Shute assisted the French in operating the at Montreuil. 




160 THE FIRST BATTALION 

civil board at Saacy and among other duties were charged with the respon- 
sibility for the very important circuits to the Engineers who were detailed 
to blow up the Marne bridges in case of a further advance by the Germans. 

Lieutenants Hasskarl and Foust returned from their courses in the First 
Corps school early in July. But Lieutenant Suddath was transferred from 
the school to a Field Battalion, later distinguishing himself with the 78th 
Division. The returning officers brought with them two expert telegraphers, 
Earlix and Davis. There was no need for additional telegraphers at the 
moment. Earlix was a sergeant, but Davis being a private was pounced 
upon by a heartless "Top" and given an opportunity to learn the meaning of 
"K. P." 

As the month of June advanced, movements of troops and equipment past 
the billets near La Ferte increased steadily. French troops were moved 
constantly in both directions day and night. When the movement of large 
numbers of American troops commenced, the trucks of the 406th were pressed 
into service and many of the Marines of the Second Division were transferred 
from the Belleau Woods region to the vicinity of Soissons by the Signal 
Corps. By this time the Battalion possessed a varied assortment of trucks 
and motorcycles and the shop forces were more than busy keeping them on the 
road. To add to the difficulties, the mechanics had to produce results with 
a very meagre supply of spare parts and their ingenuity was remarkable. The 
Battalion was fortunate in having such men as Urffer, McAnallen, Engstrom, 
Gaus, Grant and Sebring to handle and maintain the sixty to seventy assorted 
vehicles which the Supply Officer had obtained. To add to the variety of 
equipment, the motor squads fell heir to seven three-ton trucks of British 
manufacture. These veterans had already given to the British forces three 
years of hard service. And the following months proved that they were still 
able with a little coaxing to rattle over the roads, although the shop crowds 
were tempted on many occasions to throw up their hands in despair. 

The Battalion work itself kept the motor details busy but as yet the 
Corps did not boast a Motor Supply train. Troops require ammunition 
and there was only one way to get it to the front. Thus the 406th motor 
sections were assigned another task. They worked with the Battalion and 
repaired trucks by day and hauled for the Corps by night, often with no rest 
for thirty or forty hours at a stretch. Boche planes were continually on the 
lookout for ammunition trucks. A "pot shot" sometimes resulted in a series 
of terrific explosions and nothing but a mass of wreckage or a hole in the 
ground would be left. Perhaps it was only by luck that the Battalion trucks 
did not share in any of these experiences. But the training and experience 
of the drivers may have had something to do with it. 

Airplane activity was constantly on the increase. During the early days 



ON THE M/JRNE 



161 




"Nothing But a Mass of Wreckage . . Would be Left." 

at La Ferte little thought was given to the hostile craft as they passed over- 
head. But one night a well directed bomb transformed the railway station 
into a pile of junk and thereafter, whenever airplanes were heard in the 
vicinity all hands were ordered into the cellars. Night after night, the weary 
gangs were hauled out and hurried to places of safety while the "archies" 
sent up their barrages in an effort to force the enemy back to his own lines. 

Captain Gauss although attached to Corps Headquarters, preferred to 
live near his former associates. He was afflicted with a stubborn case of rheu- 
matism and was unable to walk. One evening the Boche dropped a few 
bombs nearby. The earth shook. 

"Rheumatism or no rheumatism, I'm going to get out of this place!" 
thought the Captain. He leaped from his bed and fled for a cave. The 
rheumatism was entirely cured! 

Lieutenant Foust took charge of Company "E," Captain Wattles being 
detached and given command of the 52nd Telegraph Battalion, a Regular 
Army outfit. A farewell party was held and Lieutenant Donaldson who had 
the least confining duties was made chief provisioner. Captain "Bill" 
realized before the dinner broke up that his old friends were going to miss 
him. Shortly after he joined his new organization he was made a Major 



i6: 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



and his Battalion was assigned to the Third Army Corps, participating in 
the latter part of the advance to the Vesle and in the Meuse-Argonne offen- 
sive. After the Armistice, the Third Corps was made a part of the Army of 
Occupation and with his Battalion, he shared in the occupation of the Rhine 
Valley. 

Soon after the Air fields at Saints and Ormeaux were equipped, the French 
took them over and the Americans were moved to Francheville where a new 
telephone layout was required. However, the Air fields were back in the 
territory operated by Army troops and the Corps was required only to con- 
nect Francheville to the switchboard recently installed in the post office at 
Coulommiers. The demands for service for American units had grown to 
such an extent that the French insisted that an American board be placed 
in this office. Stevens was dispatched to Coulommiers to set up the switch- 
board and start Davis and Reynolds in its operation. This little switchboard 
soon began to handle a considerable amount of business, caring for two large 
hospitals which had been temporarily located in the Foret de Crecy, and a 
Signal dump which Lieutenant Meigs had established in the town. The latter 
was supplied by train loads of material conducted by Lieutenant Guy from a 
new base at Lieusant. 

One more hospital remained to be connected before all was in readiness 
for action. This one was at Jouilly, far from Corps Headquarters. The 
French were to furnish a circuit from Paris to Dammartin and Company 
"D" was ordered to build from Dammartin to the hospital. Miller's section 
was sent to build the connecting line while a hunt was made for the bureau 




Bridge over the Marne at La Ferte 



ON THE MARNE 163 

or person who could decide what circuit was to be used at Dammartin to 
connect Paris. While others were searching, Miller with the aid of Longo's 
French buttonholed a Sunday afternoon stroller who had a telegraph sign 
on his cap. As luck would have it, this was the very lineman who carried 
the diagrams for that section and who also had the instructions for the leased 
circuit. 

On this little job many new climbers were developed in Miller's section. 
Paris has an alluring sound and not every one could get to the metropolis. 
But from the top of a pole between Dammartin and Jouilly, the Eiffel Tower 
and many other prominent structures in the great city could be seen. Each 
man on the job, whether he had ever climbed a pole before or not, managed 
to reach the top of that one. 

The days of preparation and organization were nearing a close. Troops 
and yet more troops were rushing along the crowded highways toward the 
front. The streams of ambulances carrying wounded back toward the hos- 
pitals gave warning that big things were happening. 







Chapter XVIII 



The First America?! Offensive 



AT MONTREUIL Dickson had a liberal supply of axes and gasoline. He 
J— \ was too near the German lines to attempt any salvage, and his orders 
■*- -^- were, in case of retreat, to burn everything combustible and to de- 
stroy all else with axes. Similar instructions were given to the men at Cham- 
pigny and the other exchanges. 

They were dark days, those days in mid-July. With every plan made for 
retreat every one waited, and hoped, and longed for orders for an attack. The 
Germans hammered away at La Ferte and were answered by the long range 
naval guns. 

As the hours passed, spirits rose. The American and French troops were 
holding the enemy! The streets were jammed with more and still more 
troops being rushed to the front. The Battalion trucks were pressed into 
service. 

On the morning of the seventeenth long streams of German prisoners, 
weary and dusty came down the road. A little later came a joyful shout, 
"There go the pontoons." The Marne was to be crossed! It was to be an 
advance ! The procession of boat laden trucks on their way toward Chateau 
Thierry put to an end all thought of retreat. 

That afternoon Major Hubbell received word that the Corps would attack 



1(54 



THE FIRST AMERICAN OFFENSIVE 



i6s 



on the following morning. But he knew that his organization was in shape to 
shoulder its responsibilities and he kept the information to himself. During 
the evening the Major stuck to Corps Headquarters to be in close touch with 
the situation. All hands in the Battalion retired early. Only one thing was 
certain. There would be no air raids that night. The rain was pouring down 



LLGEND 
■ MainHiqhways 
• Railroads 
Scale 



5 10 15 
Kilometers 




From the Marne to the Vesle 



in torrents and it was dark as pitch. But at ten o'clock word was received of 
the exact time of the attack. It was passed to the men. The morrow was 
to be the day of days. Sleep was out of the question. 

At once, Lieutenant Price with Magill, Giles and Hallgren set out through 
the blinding rain on motorcycles, with instructions to locate and keep in touch 
with Major Alfonte, the Signal Officer of the 26th Division. The Major was 



1 66 THE FIRST BATTALION 

reported to be either in the small town of Mery or at Genevrois Farm. But 
shell fire had wiped both of these places off the map, and the party set out along 
a road jammed with artillery and infantry units to find the Major. A couple 
of hours later they located him in an old building back of Lucy. The Lieuten- 
ant was ordered ahead into Lucy to find some place which seemed sufficiently 
protected to warrant the installation of a switchboard. It was two o'clock 
in the morning when the party arrived in the town. The Ambulance Corps 
was collecting wounded Americans. The dead of both armies were lying every- 
where. A location was found for an exchange. Before day dawned a switch- 
board was installed. The 26th Division Headquarters remained at Lucy 
throughout the eighteenth, but on the nineteenth, due to the success of the 
attack, it was moved ahead to Picardie Farm where a new "P. C." (Post of 
Command) was established. 

As soon as Lieutenant Price had been dispatched to maintain liaison with 
the 26th Division, Company ' D" was ordered to prepare for an early start on 
any new construction which might be required. "E" Company was divided, 
part under Lieutenant Hasskarl to handle the operating and maintenance of 
the exchanges at Corps Headquarters and the remainder under Lieutenant 
Foust to proceed to Montreuil, there to pick up materials and additional men 
to build lines for the Corps "P. C." wherever it might locate. 

Company "D" was assembled at four in the morning, the trucks loaded with 
wire so arranged that it could be run off from the reels as the trucks advanced 
along the road. All was ready for action on a moment's notice. But orders 
were slow in coming. During the morning, Coates ran a line from the main 
road toward an Engineer's dump at Saacy. At noon the Company was ordered 
to Montreuil to await further instructions. Dickson with his detachment, 
was still in the dugout, not knowing whether the exchange was to be destroyed 
to prevent capture by the Germans or whether it was to become even more 
active as the result of American successes and advances. 

Very early that morning, Lieutenant Foust with two sections under Ser- 
geants Adams and Gretzler had proceeded to Montreuil. Adams strung the 
lines necessary to connect the exchanges of the 26th Division in this locality 
to Dickson's exchange. The town was under fire. The exploding shells 
especially in the central part and along the main road into the town, gave 
Adams and his detail plenty to think about. During this time Sergeant Danley 
at Champigny with his small detachment was having his hands more than full 
trying to maintain service over aerial lines that were continually being shelled. 
It was necessary for him to reconstruct lines through a bridgehead at Saacy while 
the Germans were sending over tons of shells in an attempt to destroy the bridge. 

Company "D" continued to Montreuil. News of the progress being made 
by the first American offensive was most encouraging. Anticipating an 



THE FIRST AMERICAN OFFENSIVE 



167 




Ruins of Lucy 



advance of the Corps, two additional circuits were run to Lucy. Since the 
roads leading into this town were under observation and shell fire, Miller and 
Jensen took their sections out about sundown and by nine o'clock finished the 
job. They terminated the lines in an orchard at the edge of the town for use 
should the old circuit fail. The old line had been run on the ground. When 
wagon trains began to park in the woods near the road, grinding the wire into 
the mud, the new circuits which had been tied to trees were put into service. 

The shelling continued on the nineteenth. Little rest was secured that 
night for there was a continual parade back and forth to the shelter caves. 
A bomb which landed in a field adjoining the camp set fire to a haystack. The 
blaze illuminated the region so brightly that Buehler organized a bucket bri- 
gade to eliminate the target for Boche shells. 

Speaking of that unpleasant night at Montreuil, McFarland — "Little 
Mac" — admits that he developed a powerful lot of respect for enemy airplanes: 

"I was sleeping in a little room in the second story of a house 
when my bunkie called, 'What's that zit-zut-zit-zut?' The noise 
seemed to stop but we didn't wait for any more and started right 
down into the cable bury back of the house. Boom! and a flare lit 
up the quadrangle! Boom! another one! Down went my head in 
the mud. Oh, what a night!" 



168 THE FIRST BATTALION 

Throughout that night, Dickson with his gang worked frantically to keep up 
service over the much repaired lines. Early on the morning of the twentieth, 
Lieutenant Price went to Picardie Farm to keep in close touch with the ad- 
vancing 26th. The Division had strung a single wire from Lucy to Picardie 
for use with a buzzer. To make a talking circuit, an additional wire was run 
by Miller's and Jensen's sections who had been sent forward to work under 
Major Alfonte. 

Stevens back at La Ferte had been detailed to K. P. duty. It pleased him 
not a bit. He took occasion to say so, and Griest relieved him and sent him 
up to Price at Montreuil. It was a jump from the frying pan into the fire — 
but let Stevens tell it : 

"I arrived at Montreuil at 2 P. M. and at 6 o'clock was sent to 
the Front. In La Ferte it was quiet, but at Montreuil the big ones 
were coming over quite regularly. My orders were to go to Trugny. 
"Red" Smith was driving the old Ford, and I was in command of 
the detail. We got up as far as Chateau Thierry at the forks of the 
Soissons Road. I did not know which way to go. 

"I saw Major Hubbell there and asked him the way to Trugny. 
He told me to keep on the Soissons Road until I passed the "heavies" 
and then turn to the right, follow that road down and take the next 
road to the left. Down in the valley Heinie upset an ambulance 
and that held us up for an hour. For the next couple of hours we 
were lost but eventually came out on the right road. Every minute 
it became warmer. Shells were coming thick and fast. At a chateau 
gate I saw a man and asked him how much further it was to Trugny. 
He said it was not far but that Fritz was still pretty close to it. I 
bummed him for a cigarette and when he turned back his coat I 
discovered that he was a colonel! I moved and kept on moving. 

"Shells were dropping so fast that after another hundred yards 
we were tempted to swing the bus around and go home. But we kept 
on and reached our destination. We were told we would not be 
needed for an hour or two, so we planned on taking a nap. When 
we returned to our luggage, we found the old Boy himself — the Major- 
General — planted there. So we did not sleep. 

"The next morning we pitched our pup tents. We were called 
away on a case of trouble. When we returned, pup tents and all 
our luggage were gone. 

"Next time, I think I'd prefer K. P.!" 

On account of the uncertainty of the direction which the next phase of the 
attack might take, two axes of communication were carried forward, one fol- 
lowing the advance of the Sixth French Division (being run by the 322nd Bat- 
talion) and the other following the advance of the 26th American Division, by 
the 406th. To connect these axes, a line was run from Lucy to Belleau and 
a test station established at Lucy in charge of Favinger and Yeckel. In a 
little house which had escaped the general bombardment of the town, these 



THE FIRST AMERICAN OFFENSIVE 



169 



men with Daniels and Hale established themselves and spent their time patch- 
ing lines which were frequently broken down by artillery action. 

These were days of early rising and late retiring. Morning mess was 
generally called between three-thirty and four o'clock, and before five o'clock, 
sections were out on the road weaving their way through the trains of supplies 
and artillery. But no one complained of long hours or scant rations, for the 
push was now headed in the right direction. And whenever there was a 




Chateau Thierry — Just After the Germans Retreated 



chance for amusement, despite shells and gas, no urging was needed. The 
construction sections were divided into two groups, one being allowed to rest 
while the other group continued the advance. One evening at Montreuil the 
"off duty" group had a masquerade with "Jeff" Adams as master of cere- 
monies. Assorted costumes were collected from the piles of clothing scattered 
through the buildings and courtyard, and "Red" Sebring in his top hat and 
swallow-tail coat took the prize. Fest discovered a brass horn and Hutchison 
found a flute, and the party had plenty of so-called music. 

One night some of the officers were sitting on the parapet of a trench 
watching the German shells bursting just a short distance away. As might 
be expected thoughts were of home. One of them made the casual remark: 

"Don't you wonder where your folks are tonight?" 

Just then a big one burst nearby and Shirley Price rolled off the parapet 
into the trench. 

"I don't know where the folks are tonight, but Shirley is right down here 
in the mud!" was Price's answer. 



i 7 o THE FIRST BATTALION 

On the morning of the twentieth, Sergeants Gretzler and Adams with their 
sections started with the trucks to locate the Advance P. C. and establish con- 
nection to the rear echelon at La Ferte by way of Montreuil. Proceeding 
along the La Ferte-Chateau Thierry road they strung four circuits through 
Lucy and Bouresches to Picardie Farm, and terminated two of them on the 
26th Division switchboard at that point. They were then ordered to carry 
the other two circuits to Epaux-Bezu and remain there awaiting further 
instructions. 

Sergeant Gretzler proceeded with the central office equipment, while Ser- 
geant Adams started to string the circuits. It was found that the shortest 
route was via Etrepilly, although this road was almost impassable, due to its 
shell-torn condition. In the town the road was blocked by motor vehicles 
which were piled up as high as the houses on the narrow, sharply ascending 
street, and a detour was necessary. This detour wound around the edge of a 
little ravine, the bottom of which was covered with dead of the German and 
French Armies. The road climbed sharply over a hill which was under terrific 
fire. Adams chased down the far side stringing his two circuits from the back 
of the truck. Near the entrance to the chateau at Epaux-Bezu, there were 
stationed several batteries of French 75 's which were shelling the retreating 
enemy as fast as the guns could be worked. This activity drew shells from 
the enemy, and the vicinity of the chateau was a most unhealthful place. If 
the good die young, the men of the 406th must have been a tough gang. A 
shell landed close to "Dad" McCann's truck, killing a number of Frenchmen 
and horses, and wounding two Americans from the 322nd Field Signal Bat- 
talion. But not a scratch to the 406th, except some perforations in the 
gasoline tank of McCann's truck. 

The chateau selected for Headquarters at Epaux was not more than a mile 
from the German artillery. It was the custom of General Liggett and his 
Chief of Staff, General Craig, to keep Corps Headquarters close to the front 
so that movements of divisions could be readily directed. As the progress of 
the war developed, however, this practice was not always followed and the 
Chief of Staff grew more and more to depend upon telephone service to the 
divisions. 

The switchboard had been installed in the chateau basement and just as 
the circuits leading from the rear were completed, a little before noon, an order 
came that Corps Headquarters would be moved to Buire, about two kilometers 
to the west and sheltered from the German positions by a high hill. There 
was little time to discuss the army and its quick changes of plans. Under 
Jeff Adams, the sections dashed along the crowded road, feeding twist from the 
back of the truck. Sergeant Gretzler installed the switchboard, and service 
was ready at Buire half an hour after the Chief of Staff arrived. 



THE FIRST AMERICAN OFFENSIVE 171 

Gruninger had an exciting time reaching Buire. He had set out with only 
a rough diagram of the roads : 

"The only guides along the way were occasional burial parties. 
I was completely lost, and finally got my bearings just outside 
Belleau Woods. I came across a dugout which the Boches had just 
left. A kettle of thin soup was still warm on the fire where they left 
it. I pulled up under a tree and tried to 'grab off' an hour of sleep. 
Nothing doing. Fifty yards away a concealed 12-inch gun was 
popping every twenty minutes. I had driven in between pops. At 
the first fire I thought the earth had dropped from under me. No 
chance for sleep. At daybreak I arrived at my destination and 
started to set up field boards and lines to the different outposts." 

These were strenuous days for the construction men. But they had the 
advantage of being out in the open where they could see what was going on. 
The men running the switchboards in the dugouts worked under a severe 
strain, always at top speed, trying to build up connections over circuits con- 
stantly in trouble. Hannam describes the operating situation: 

"These were awful days, for the American Army hadn't exactly 
acquired confidence and every one was afraid to move before con- 
sulting some one else by telephone. There was a perpetual stream 
of business day and night and oh, those trunk lines of twisted pair 
lying all over the roads with trucks running over them! Believe me, 
they were certainly musical. At Buire, after carrying out buckets of 
bullets, helmets, parts of machine guns, etc., we slept right along- 
side the boards on a couple of feather mattresses left there by the 
Germans. At this place the Germans made quite a stand. So we 
stayed there almost a week during which time our troops moved 
up the six- and then the nine-inch guns into our back yard. These 
would have shaken us out of bed if there was any place to be shaken to." 

Several new telegraph operators joined the Battalion during the spring to 
make up for those who had been transferred to other posts. Huckleberry, 
Davis and Kelly were all Regular Army men with years of experience. Swear- 
ingen and Putnam were also new comers who shouldered their share of the 
responsibility. These men with the original telegraphers headed by Ban- 
holzer sent and received messages so efficiently that longing eyes were cast 
on them by officers of other organizations. 

The circuits leading north from Lucy became so extremely unsatisfactory 
due to wear and tear that on the twenty-fourth a new line was run to Picardie 
Farm, this time supporting the wires on a homemade lance line across the 
fields which were still strewn with both allied and enemy dead. The territory 
between Lucy and Bouresches and the railroad embankment to the north- 
east had been the scene of terrific fighting when the Marines began their 
advance. Most of the American soldiers had been buried and each of the 



172 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



graves marked by a rifle, with the muzzle stuck in the ground. The man's 
identification tag was attached to the stock and the bayonet was fastened near 
the trigger by the cartridge belt, making a cross. The weather was extremely 
hot and the unburied Boches and animals were not pleasant company. 

Where the line ran through the woods there still remained many of the 
poles of an old French civil line which formed good supports for the new wires. 
Soon after this circuitwas completed, the old line across the fields was abandoned. 

During these strenuous days there was another call to name men for the 
Candidates School. This time Lowe and Bruder were sent away. Both of 
these men gave a good account of themselves. Lowe returned to the States 
with a field Battalion and remained in the Regular Army. Bruder joined the 



♦ ; &< 




At Buire 



52nd Telegraph Battalion, in which Captain Wattles had been made a Major, 
and with this Battalion went through the various campaigns of the Third Corps. 

There was another brief respite and Lieutenant Price remained near Picar- 
die Farm waiting for the next jump, Lieutenant Foust keeping his finger on the 
Corps' pulse at Buire. Each morning the sections made an early start from 
Montreuil and spent the day waiting for a chance to jump ahead from Picardie. 
In the meantime two new lieutenants, Pearson and Woodward, joined the 
organization. These men were sent to Lieutenant Price to obtain experience 
in forward work. 

The 26th was now advancing toward Epieds and the 42nd was ordered 
to relieve the "Yankees" who had been carrying on a strenuous and successful 
offensive for nearly ten days. Trugny was selected as the Headquarters of 
the 42nd and about five o'clock on the. evening of the twenty-fifth Lieutenant 
Price set out with his sections to run a circuit to Epieds. Lieutenant Foust 
continued the circuit from Epieds to Trugny. 

At Trugny the detachment installed a switchboard, and Roach and Gallo 
stayed by the board while the chateau and surrounding grounds were pounded 



THE FIRST AMERICAN OFFENSIVE 173 

with shells and bombs. After the heavy firing, it was learned that the 42nd 
Division Headquarters would not move into that town, but there was nothing 
to do but remain until morning, when the station was left in charge of a 
Signal Detachment of the 42nd Division, and the "E" Company Detachment 
returned to Buire. 

The same night, Urffer, with a truck which had been loaned to the 322nd 
Battalion, ran into another air bombardment, and from his own account, 
quickly forgot the disgust which he had expressed for air warnings back at 
La Ferte. As he says: 

"My truck was jammed up on a congested road with a broken 
steering arm. While I was trying to make repairs of some sort, Fritz 
polluted the air again, and as my location was plainly marked by a 
gang of French artillery men smoking cigarettes, the Hun did not 
lose much time starting the racket. Naturally, while the Boche 
was lambasting the pike, I was peacefully dying of fright about a, 
hundred yards off the road where some one had thoughtfully dug a 
shell hole for me." 

Shortly after Corps Headquarters was established at Buire, Captain Griest 
was ordered to that town to take over the office and to keep in close touch 
with the Corps officers. The circuits by this time had been placed in fair 
shape. 

The entire Battalion gathered at Buire. Each day the sections were ready 
to be off by four-thirty in the morning and usually returned for mess between 
eight and nine in the evening. Still there was no further advance and the 
days were spent in going over the lines. 

On the twenty-eighth, it was decided to move Corps Headquarters to 
Epieds. New circuits were run from Buire, but over the crowded roads pro- 
gress was slow. When the circuits had reached Epieds, Colonel Voris an- 
nounced that as the advance was continuing the Corps would move on to 
Chateau Moucheton. Orders were left at Epieds that when Coates arrived 
with advance switchboard material, he should be sent on to Moucheton. 
Captain Griest reached the Chateau before the regimental signal detail had 
dismantled their exchange in the basement and was able to take over the vari- 
ous circuits which the infantry men just previously had taken from the Ger- 
mans. When the switchboard arrived, Miller and Hannam had sufficient 
trunks ready to give service both to divisions and to the rear echelon at Buire. 
Circuits for local stations running up through the Chateau were all in place, 
these having been left in good shape by the Germans in their hurried retreat. 
Shortly after noon the telephone and telegraph offices were working normally 
and Colonel Voris had established his desk in the cellar hallway between them. 

"Little Mac" went to Buire to bring up Noone and Terneson and various 



i 74 THE FIRST BATTALION 

supplies for the office at Epieds, which Captain Griest took over at this time. 
He had an exciting time : 

"By the time I had reached Buire, eaten supper, and gotten some 
rations for the men at the exchange, it had become intensely dark. 
As we started for Epieds, John was standing on the side of the car. 
Bill was on the bed rolls on the back. The road was dark and rough. 
Suddenly I noticed a car coming down the hill toward us on the wrong 
side of the road. I shot over to my left. B-r-r-r it shot by. As 
soon as he had passed he came to life to find that some one else was on 
the road beside himself. He shot on his light but kept on going 
faster than ever. We didn't stop even to cuss and at length we 
came to the top of the hill where an M. P. came up to us with a gas 
mask on. 'Where are your gas masks? Put 'em on,' he mumbled 
under his mask. All the horns were honking now. We had not 
heard one before. I know I would never have reached Epieds 
that night if an ambulance ahead of us had not been going the same 
way, for all I could see through that mask was the red light on the 
rear of that ambulance." 

The listings on the board at Epieds had not been kept up to date. There 
were no records available of what circuits terminated there, or how to route 
calls. That evening conditions became most hectic. The most experienced 
operators were detailed at other points and the men at Epieds were attempting 
to give service without any records and with very few instructions. The night 
was spent in preparing an accurate set of records and listings. This exchange 
was in the cellar of one of the few remaining houses, but the house was at the 
intersection of five roads, and the Germans who had recently vacated the town 
knew just where to drop their shells. Throughout the night, large calibre 
shells with a scattering of gas shells landed in the vicinity of these cross roads, 
each successive arrival rattling more glass out of the building. For much of 
the time, it was necessary to use gas masks. The "Tissot" type had not yet 
arrived. Operating the switchboard with the British respirator and trying to 
appease various exacting officers was a real job, especially with the racket 
outside. 

The front line remained almost stationary for several days while the 42nd 
Division, taking up its headquarters at Artois Farm, relieved the 26th. 
There was now only one division in the Corps front which was gradually 
becoming contracted as the sector was wiped out. The 322nd Battalion 
continued the work of keeping up liaison with the division and this gave Price 
a chance to return to the rear headquarters at La Ferte for a much needed 
two days' rest. 

During the lull in the activities, the lines to the rear were given attention 
and a new open wire line was started from Headquarters at Chateau Mouche- 
ton through Epieds and down to Chateau Thierry, where there was established 



THE FIRST AMERICAN OFFENSIVE 



*75 




Artillery in the Forest East of Chateau Moucheton 



an advanced Headquarters of the Army and a new rear echelon for the Corps. 
Along the road there still remained a great number of poles from the French 
civil lines, which gave Collins a chance to make good speed. At Chateau 
Thierry Gretzler and Russell installed the exchange in the basement of a 
chateau which had been recently vacated by the Germans. The Boche had 
not molested the furniture in the building, but other stock of the chateau 
had been well exhausted as was evidenced by quantities of bottles strewn about 
the building. From this point it was necessary for Collins to run circuits 
across the broken down bridge to reach the Army exchange on the south side 
of the Marne. 

With detachments from the Battalion scattered over the fighting region, 
it was almost impossible for the mess sergeants to keep every one supplied 
with rations. The Epieds crew was particularly unfortunate in receiving 
Battalion supplies and set about caring for themselves. In the yard at the 
rear of the cellar was a large mass of junk out of which were salvaged a stove 
and various utensils and, as Murdaugh reports: 

"The Germans in their hasty retreat overlooked taking with them 
a potato patch for which we were duly thankful. Bill Terneson found 
a shovel and we were not long in digging a sidecar full of them. 
We ate so many French fried potatoes here that if we passed a potato 
patch, we would shy off." 



i 7 6 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



In the region northeast of Buire, the Battalion was entering that section 
of the territory which the Germans had been organizing for their main line 
of communication. A splendid high tension line had been erected leading 
from Buire down toward Chateau Thierry and a well-built telephone line 
remained in place through the forest east of Moucheton, running toward 
Artois Farm and Beauvardes. During a period of comparative inactivity, 
these lines were surveyed to determine what use could be made of them when 
the next advance was started. It was during this period too that- many excur- 
sions were made to the forest near Moucheton, where the Germans abandoned 
the foundation of one of the "Big Berthas" with which they had been shelling 
Paris. Corps Headquarters had moved from Buire but it still remained the 
base for the Battalion, and each morning working parties set out early for 
Moucheton, to be ready to jump when the orders came. 

Peterson was one of the telephone operators selected for the next move, 
and with the others spent his days near the trucks at Moucheton waiting 
for the next advance. It will be remembered that he was one of the listening 
post men at Seicheprey. The following which he wrote gives a good idea of 
conditions at this time: 




Foundation of One of the "Big Berthas" Which Shelled Paris 



THE FIRST AMERICAN OFFENSIVE 177 

"We are still for a few minutes waiting for orders and I am sitting 
in the truck, dirty and muddy, but feeling fine and in the best of 
spirits, as I hope will show in this letter. Why shouldn't we feel 
in good spirits? The Boches are falling back and we are advanc- 
ing so fast that we are not permitted to leave the truck and must be 
ready to go ahead with our lines at any minute. This is great stuff 
too, — thrilling and exciting. As you know I have seen rough stuff 
before, last March mostly, and in a way it was more so than this, 
because we were standing there and under fire nearly all the time, 
but here it is only occasionally that we get mixed up with the explod- 
ing shells. Of course, I am speaking of our Company, not our Army. 
It has been the same for over a week now, working among the ruins 
of towns and the droves of troops. 

"We often get to work in places before the dead have been moved 
and in the thick woods they are sometimes missed entirely, but it 
does not make me sad to see the Boche all busted up, lying around 
on the ground. It is still a mystery to me why human beings must 
be slaughtered this way, but as far as shivering at the sight of them 
lying around all cut to pieces, that is past. 

"I wrote once about the ugliness of the narrow strip of land 
behind the front, but it is different here. We have passed through 
miles of it, ruined and destroyed. It is a pity, but it must be done. 
Our own guns are responsible for much of it. But the destruction 
the Boche left behind is pure vandalism, lots of it. Furniture in 
remnants hacked to pieces not by shells but by axes. I didn't realize 
in my other experience just what it was to see these sights and the 
feelings that it gives to look at them. It seems strange that a year 
ago we were paying out our good money for Boche souvenirs that are 
scattered all over the ground now. Everything that a soldier carries 
can be had by simply picking it up. But nobody touches the stuff. 
We are too busy and we have all that we can do to carry our equip- 
ment. We find letters and all sorts of personal property and it is inter- 
esting, — German writing on the walls and German signs on the roads. 
It begins to look as if we were getting somewhere. I just want to 
let you know that we are going, and getting there, and that America 
has the goods." 

The civil populace had begun to return to the towns which were retaken 
from the Germans. When these poor people came into Buire where all of 
their furniture and almost everything else had been destroyed there were 
many pathetic scenes. Lieutenant Meigs became the big-hearted protector 
for one French woman who had come back to look for some of her belongings 
before the arrival of her aged father. She had walked that day an incredible 
distance and upon her arrival at Buire was almost exhausted. The Lieutenant 
scouted around and, having given her a good meal, fixed up a place where she 
might have a comfortable and undisturbed sleep. Throughout the remainder 
of the war, the Lieutenant frequently received letters of deepest gratitude 
from her. 



■— gj. - umitM 



s>k **}. 



r~ «* 



«lr- '■ & '■■■-- 



> » - 



Chapter XIX 



On to the Fesle 



A S THE Allied success continued and the enemy retreated, the telephone 
/— \ exchanges at Picardie Farm, Belleau and Buire were abandoned and 
JL jk. t es t stations only maintained at those points. Early on the third of 
August, orders were given to rush a line to Fresnes as it seemed likely that 
Corps Headquarters would be established either there or at Sergy. An attempt 
was made to patch the German circuits leading east from Artois Farm to which 
point Boche circuits had already been repaired. But the wires had been 
badly chopped to pieces. The few good stretches had been used by the 42nd 
Division. So it was decided to run twist. It was the intention later, if 
time would permit, to piece out the enemy circuits and recover the twist. 
By two o'clock the circuits were completed to Fresnes and into the house which 
had been selected as an exchange in case this was to be Headquarters, or as a 
connecting point should Headquarters be at Sergy. Major Behn with his 
Battalion, the 322nd, was running a circuit north to the latter town. It 
had been raining all the morning. Scarcely had the job been completed 
when it was learned that the morning's work had been wasted. The direction 
of the attack had shifted and neither Sergy nor Fresnes was to be Corps 
Headquarters. 



ON TO THE VESLE i 79 

Company "D" was now working so far from Buire that permission was 
obtained to move up the line. On the morning of the fourth, camp was 
broken and the sections started north. At noon word reached the Company 
that the Corps was to jump to Fere-en-Tardenois, and circuits were to be run 
to that town immediately. 

Lieutenant Guy made a survey of the Boche lines south of the Foret de 
Tournelle and Captain Griest covered the section to the north. The best 
map available showed a road running through the forest and, as there was no 
time for further surveys, it was assumed that circuits could be strung along 
this forest road to connect the two portions of the Boche line. 

Cowan's P. C. detail was immediately dispatched to Fere-en-Tardenois 
to install equipment. Woodward's section started from Fere-en-Tardenois 
to build down to Villeneuve, while Miller started at Villeneuve to continue 
the line to the southwest. Jensen's section, enlarged by a group from "E" 
was to pick up the circuits near Artois Farm and run through the woods to 
connect with Miller. It developed that there was no such road as the map 
indicated and Miller had headed for a road further to the east. To add to his 
difficulties, the section truck had become mired just before dark and the heavy- 
reels of field twist had to be carried by hand. In a heavy storm, and in 
inky darkness, despite "iron rations" at noon, and no evening meal, the 
men struggled through the woods. Only by touch and frequently calling to 
each other could they keep together. Everywhere were shell holes, dugouts 
and fan-shaped groups of fox holes in which machine gun nests had been 
located. These were filled with water and there were many impromptu baths 
as the men picked their way along the line in the dark. Just before midnight 
Miller and Jensen managed to find each other. The sections were joined and 
the new circuit completed to Fere-en-Tardenois. 

Cowan set up the office and while waiting for the circuit to be completed, 
Coates, Noone and Heisler had time to place all of the equipment in perfect 
order. A new terminal box, fitted with a hand-made cable to the switchboard 
which cut down materially the time required for installation and added greatly 
to the shipshape appearance of the exchange, was used here for the first time. 
The P. C. crowd was expected to mess with the Headquarters troop but that 
mess failed to arrive. Cowan describes the situation: 

"Coates saved the day by bringing in a lot of vegetables he found 
in a nearby garden. These vegetables were planted by the French, 
cultivated by the Germans, and eaten by Americans. Frequently, 
we had corned beef in various ways — including burnt. However, we 
always managed to "rustle" some flour, baking powder and grease 
and, with our iron plate, which was a very necessary part of our 
equipment, we frequently had a batch of hot cakes. "Rustling" was 
often the only way we could get things. It meant sending some one 



I bo 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



after almost anything and then not asking questions. If he was a 
good rustler he always brought it in, be it a part of an automobile or a 
bed or a cooking utensil or food." 

The construction gangs did not fare so well the night the Fere-en-Tardenois 
circuits were finished. They pulled into Beauvardes about two in the morn- 
ing and found that no food had arrived. But they did find a floor where there 
was room to sleep and here they stowed themselves away wet and tired and 
hungry. It had been a rather busy Sunday. The next morning the 117th 
Signal Battalion of the 42nd Division, generously shared their limited rations 
with the men of the 406th. That day the Battalion assembled at Ville- 
neuve. A few days before, this little town had been used as a German 
hospital. 

Open wire lines on poles gave much more satisfactory service than the 
twist on the ground. As fast as possible, wire was placed on the Boche poles 
and the twist recovered. But this brought new troubles. Near Moucheton, 
trees in the forest which had been shattered by shell fire, began to blow over 
and tear down the lines. It became necessary to place patrols so that every 
section would be covered at least once in fifteen minutes. After repeated 
requests, Dailey who had worked faithfully as a cook, was put back on line 
work. He drew one of the posts on this patrol, and thus describes his activi- 
ties: 

"I was unloaded in the road with my rations and pack, which I 
had to carry up the side of the hill, through the woods. When the 




The Main Street in Fere-en-Tardenois 



ON TO THE FESLE 



181 




Wm& 



At Villeneuve 



Huns built this line, there was a wonderful lot of undergrowth. They 
cut it off about eighteen inches high leaving the stubs sticking up. 
With the tangled iron wire scattered about, walking was almost 
impossible especially with a hundred and fifty pounds across my 
neck. Reaching my location, I set up my half of the dog tent and 
made a connection to the trunk lines that we were to watch so as to 
report every fifteen minutes. 

"This being finished, I went back to my tent and got the proper 
location on my automatic and a Springfield that I had found. I was 
not at all comfortable in mind as there were plenty of Germans still 
in the woods. It was very dark and the odor of decomposed flesh, 
both human and horse, was very strong. My partner had not ar- 
rived when suddenly I heard the leaves and undergrowth cracking. 
I eased over and took my Springfield and closed the bolt on it real 
quick when I heard the cry of 'Kamerad, Kamerad,' and when the 
two husky little fellows started a line of French and explanations, you 
can just imagine how much easier I felt, for I had been some scared. 
Anyway, all went well from that on until ten o'clock when Lyons, 
my partner, arrived and so did Captain Griest with the informa- 
tion that I had to move back to the other side of a little brook. 
This, of course, meant that I had to tear down all that I had built 
and move. That is just where the army got in wrong with me again; 
but we moved nevertheless and the Captain did not leave until some 
time between one and two A. M. Lyons and I finally got settled 
along the side of the woods and hill with tons of German ammuni- 
tion all around us, mostly machine-gun and hand grenades (potato- 



182 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



mashers). These we hung on trees and had a little amusement of 
our own, with Denny (Daniels) up on top of the hill wondering what 
was going on down below." 

At Villeneuve the Battalion took account of stock and fixed up trucks 
and tools preparatory for the next drive. Survey parties were sent out, "E" 
Company taking the territory east of Fere while "D" worked to the west, 

and the locations of numerous Boche lines 
were plotted on maps for future use. On the 
tenth, while surveys were continuing north 
of the little River Ourcq, orders came for 
service to be established to the railhead 
at Breny. The French were rapidly repair- 
ing the railroad from Paris toward Fere- 
en-Tardenois, and the whole of "D" Com- 
pany jumped to the job and soon had the 
circuits completed. Along this railroad there 
were a great many German dead who had 
held the top of the embankment, where they 
had been operating machine gun nests, until 
charged by the on-coming French and 
Americans. Every one of the bridges, both 
on the railroad and on highways crossing 
above the railroad, had been destroyed and 
progress was difficult. At this time, Moss 
with some of "E" Company's men, ran a 
line from Villeneuve down to Coincy to take care of a new field for the air 
service. 

Warnings were constantly given against handling any ammunition or other 
material lying around the battlefields, particularly because of Boche traps. 
But, in spite of these warnings, large quantities of souvenirs found their way 
into camp and heavy mails were dispatched to the States. While working 
on the line to Breny, Eicholtz kicked aside the unexploded cap of a shell 
while planting a lance pole. The cap exploded and he was hurried to the 
hospital to have numerous bits of steel extracted from his shins. 

At last there was a Sunday with nothing to do but rest, wander over the 
nearby battlefields and write letters home. Here is one of the letters : 

"This being the first Sunday afternoon in weeks that we have 
not been tearing wildly on, I went to the east of the town and sat 
down under a tree on the slope to read. To the north stretched a 
valley through which the Boches have recently fled, away in the 
distance the hills to the north and northeast showing the scars of 
many shells. To the west was our little town with remarkably few 




On the Line to Breny 



OX TO THE J'ESLE 



183 



scars showing from that angle, the church tower, leaning slightly, 
with the Boche Red Cross flag still hanging out. It was a lovely 
day and one would not have known there was a war except for an 
occasional buzz high up in the air as one of the big planes whirled 
by or a distant muffled thud from the artillery. We have our mess 
in the garden of a place which the Boche must have used for their 
officers, and it is in pretty good condition. Our officers use the 
library of the house for their mess and it is rilled with Japanese 
books and ornaments. The owner of this place was once connected 
with the Japanese consul's office at Marseilles and he had some stun- 
ning stuff in his house. 

"The people are coming back into these villages, old and young, 
and they seem to be gradually recovering some of their effects from 
various piles of debris. I never saw so many box mattresses. The 
Boches carried them to the woods and dugouts and left them there. 
But most of the feather beds have been slashed and the feathers 
strewn around. 

"The other day I went down through the woods to a little chateau' 
where we, in conjunction with the French, are running a switch- 
board. It was sort of a hunting establishment in the woods and had 
its conservatories and a big lake with a Japanese garden. The place 
is said to belong to an American woman who also had a fine house in 
Chateau Thierry which not long ago was No Man's Land. Here 
Thevelin and Buehler are operating the switchboard with the French 
soldiers and are enjoying an elaborate mess." 

On the twelfth, orders were received that the First Corps was to be 
relieved by the Third Corps and would return to La Ferte for a rest. The 
Battalion moved down and took quarters in the cavalry drill grounds. It 
was planned at once to have an inspection and then permit as many men as 
possible to take a short leave at Paris. Several trucks were dispatched with 
their happy cargoes. The shop gangs were again unfortunate but the trucks 
had to be overhauled. 
Most of the shop men had 
already been to the me- 
tropolis on one mission or 
another but nevertheless 
they were loath to miss 
this opportunity after 
their strenuous services. 
One of them wrote: 

"Our return to La 
Ferte was supposed to be 
a resting up period. If 
it was, it did not include 

the Shop Crew among The Church at Villeneuve-Note the German 

the resting parties. Red Cross Flag Still Flying 




184 THE FIRST BATTALION 

The Company acquired two four-wheeled trailers which had to be 
fixed up and that took up four of our days. Next came the order to 
disconnect our motorcycles and side cars, so that we could pack these 
fast-wearing vehicles on trucks, thereby avoiding the rough use ac- 
corded them every time we moved from one sector to another." 

Speaking of leaves, one of the Motor Dispatch Service men was asked, 
"Did you get to Paris?" He replied: 

"Officially I did not. But when you consider my six months' 
detached service as a Dispatch Rider, with not always a guiding 
hand, with a gift of gab and a M. D. S. meaning ('Must Do Some- 
thing') brassard on my arm, a powerful motorcycle, plenty of gas, 
and a few spare hours now and then, well — comprenez vous? 
J'etais la! Nuf sed!" 

On the afternoon of the sixteenth, orders arrived stating that the Corps 
was to move early the following day. That evening the sound of Boche 
airplanes was heard. 

As soon as the bombs began to drop Lieutenant Meigs with Thevelin 
hastened to the home of a family by the name of Quin with whom they had 
become acquainted. Mme. Quin was afflicted with heart trouble and Meigs 
knew her husband would have his hands full taking care of her during the 
raid. The two soldiers with M. Quin did their best to calm the woman. 
The concussion from exploding bombs blew the doors open and rattled the 
glass from the windows. Everybody was running for shelter. Scurrying 
footsteps were heard on the gravel walk outside as one then another ducked 
around the corner of the house on the way to the woods. The Boche were 
aiming at the town and the woods were comparatively safe. 

While the group in the house were in the midst of their trouble, and Mme. 
Quin seemed in imminent danger of dying from the excitement, a French 
soldier rushed into the room. "Oo! la! la!" "Americaines" and a lot of other 
words he shouted as he waved his arms and pointed towards an orchard 
not far from the house. All were too busy to pay any attention to him. 
A child, the six-year-old daughter of M. Quin, was crying and running 
around hanging onto first one and then another of the men. Doors banging, 
windows breaking, the crying child, the insistent Frenchman, the seemingly 
dying woman, and the intermittent explosions from dropping bombs made a 
rather full evening. 

After a bit Thevelin managed to grasp that the soldier had seen some 
Boche spies in American uniforms in the orchard signalling to the raiders 
with candles. The reason for his excitement was then apparent. Meigs, 
pistol in hand, followed him out of the house and up the road to the orchard. 
On the way "Al" Coates met the pair and joined them, with the remark: 



ON TO THE J'ESLE 



185 




"Orders were received 
. . to return to La Ferte 
for a rest. The Battalion 
moved down and took 
quarters in a Cavalry drill 
grounds" 



'It was planned at once to have 
an inspection" 



View of the Camp 



"I don't know where you're going or what you're going to do, but I'm with 

I) 

you. 

As they entered the orchard they dodged from tree to tree. It was a 
particularly black night. Suddenly "La! La!" from the Frenchman. Meigs 
and Coates looked ahead and could make out a pup tent with a lighted candle 
inside. Two men in American uniforms were inside apparently asleep. 

Meigs stuck his automatic under the tent and in his gruffest voice yelled: 

"What are you birds doing up here? Come out o' there!" 

"Who are you?" was the answer. 

"If you don't come out quick I'll shoot you full of holes — the both of you!" 

"Wait until we get our shoes on." 

"The devil with your shoes," and by way of assistance Meigs grasped one 
of them by the foot and dragged him out on his back. The other one followed 
without further argument. 

"Line up!" said Meigs. "What are you doing up here?" 

"We came up to get away from the shelling." 

"This Frenchman says he saw you signalling to the Bodies." 

"He's a liar." 



1 86 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



"Tell it to Sweeney! You guys march down the road and if either one of 
you lets out a peep, this gun'll go off." 

Here Meigs showed one of his characteristic traits. The ground was 
covered with stubble, and after proceeding a few feet, he ordered his prisoners 
to halt and asked Coates to get their shoes. Meigs and Coates then marched 
them down to Battalion Headquarters. Just as they arrived, another excited 
Frenchman came up and said something to Coates. In a jiffy the two dis- 
appeared and in a very few minutes came back with a third man, who was 
accused of the same crime and captured under similar circumstances. 

Major Hubbell appeared at a second story window. Meigs and Coates 
with the two Frenchman lined up their three prisoners in the pitch dark street 
below. Meigs had a hard time holding down Coates who was strong for 
shooting the trio on the spot. Hubbell, when he heard the story, ordered 
Meigs to conduct the captured men to the commanding officer of the outfit 
to which they claimed to belong. 

With Meigs ordering them to step lively, and Coates "cussing" the 
"blankety blank spies," the procession marched up the street. The designated 
officer was aroused and he took charge of the prisoners. 

During the bombard- 
ment a bomb fell in the 
midst of a detachment 
of Engineers encamped 
nearby. Five were killed 
and fourteen wounded. 
Immediately Lieutenant 
Macfarlanwasonthe job. 
With Armstrong and a 
few others he spent hours 
that night taking the in- 
jured to Coulommiers as 
there was no American 
hospital at La Ferte. 




Major Wattles and His War-Scarred Car 




Chapter XX 
St. Mi hie I 



EARLY on the morning of August seventeenth, the Battalion set out for 
new fields. All of the orders were secret and great care was used to 
camouflage the entire movement. The Corps units left La Ferte at 
different hours, all going in different directions. The 406th headed first for 
Montmirail. There was a feeling of satisfaction in traveling along this road 
which, when the Battalion had moved from Neufchateau to La Ferte, was too 
close to the German positions to permit of daylight travel. 

At Montmirail orders were received to proceed to Sezanne. Without 
knowing how much or what kind of service might be required, an advance 
party was organized to rush ahead on a moment's notice to start an installation 
for Corps Headquarters. 

Progress had not been entirely satisfactory during the first morning as 
some of the heavier trucks persisted in giving trouble. After a halt for mess 
at noon the train was rearranged, the lighter vehicles under Lieutenant 
Macfarlan proceeding ahead to Brienne-le-Chateau, the next stop. The heavier 
trucks followed with the trailers. The weary caravan after mess that evening 
slept in the open, few taking the trouble even to pitch shelter tents. 

Before sunrise the train was again on the road and proceeded to Bar-sur- 
Aube. The journey led along the valley of the Aube, through villages in 
which the church bells were calling the worshippers to Sunday services. Every- 




ON THE WAY FROM THE M A R N E TO ST. MIHIEL 



is-- 



ST. MI HI EL 189 



where there was an atmosphere of peace and rest which seemed unreal to this 
crowd who had so recently been plugging ahead through the destruction and 
horrors of war. 

By noon the train passed Chaumont and was headed northeast along the 
familiar road to Neufchateau. Just outside the town the trucks were held 
while Major Hubbell endeavored to obtain definite instructions concerning 
the next stop. The French official at Bar-sur-Aube, not having any orders 
for the 406th, had inquired from French General Headquarters and had 
headed the Battalion toward its final destination before any one outside the 
General Staff had the information, and while the rest of the First Corps was 
going to a rest area southeast of Chaumont. To correct this mistake the 
Battalion was directed to Toul. As the trucks moved through Neufchateau, 
greetings were exchanged between the men and the friends whom they had 
made during the previous winter. Air units, infantry and artillery crowded 
the road, all trying to get along to their destinations and there was no oppor- 
tunity for evening mess. Shortly before midnight, in the light of the full 
moon and with German airplanes soaring overhead, the trucks pulled into the 
old French barracks at Toul, were quickly arranged under the trees and the 
men relieved for food and rest. But some one had made another mistake and 
the train was compelled to reform and move to another "Caserne." 

The Battalion as a part of the First Army Corps was to take part in that 
great offensive which was to wipe out the St. Mihiel Salient. The Germans 
had held the territory for four years. For a few short weeks the First Army 
Corps would have a chance to recuperate after the strenuous days on the 
Marne and Vesle. And then was to come the period of preparation, so neces- 
sary to insure the success of the attack. 

The day after the Battalion reached Toul the advance party under Lieuten- 
ant Hasskarl was sent on to Saizerais to become familiar with the circuits 
centering at that place. These were then being maintained and operated by 
the First American Division. 

For three days the Battalion remained in the barracks at Toul. The men 
of the 322d Battalion challenged the 406th to a baseball game. The 322d 
team was organized in America before coming to France and had been playing 
together for some time. When the amateur team of the 406th tackled them, it 
could hardly be called a game — it was a slaughter. 

By the twenty-first various officers and units belonging to Corps Head- 
quarters began to arrive at Saizerais. The 406th moved up and took over 
the exchange in that town and classified the many French circuits terminating 
there. Those not engaged in this work moved to Liverdun, billets being 
scarce in Saizerais, and pitched tents in a meadow between the canal and the 
river Moselle. The days were warm and the river was a great attraction. 



190 



THE FIRST BATTALION 




St. Mihiel, Saizerais and Surrounding Territory 



It had been planned during the late spring to celebrate the anniversary 
of the mobilization of the Battalion at Monmouth Park. But the middle 
of June found "E" Company en route to La Ferte and "D" scattered over the 
area back of Toul. The anniversary of the arrival in France found the Bat- 
talion in better shape for a celebration and a dinner was held in Liverdun. 
Officers and mess sergeants scoured the country seeking a supply of fruit and 
green vegetables and "smokes" which had become scarce. The Telephone 
Employees fund was drawn on again and Colonel Voris and Captain Gauss 
came down from Saizerais to attend the celebration. 

In the earlier days in France, air raids were not so common as they became 
here in the St. Mihiel region. One night before Bill Brittain left the Battalion, 
a number of Boche planes came over. There was a rush to "douse" the lights. 
Only one candle remained burning. There was a reason. It belonged to 
"Bull" Marr and he was engaged in the most exacting of sciences — "reading 
his shirt." He needed all the candle power available to locate the elusive 
enemy. 

"Thank Heaven they can't jump," drawled "Bull," referring to the 
cooties. Airplanes seemed far from his thoughts in spite of the roar overhead. 

"I'll make somebody jump," yelled Brittain as he heaved a vacant boot 
at the candle. His aim was perfect. 



ST. MI HI EL 191 



A large ammunition factory located in Liverdun seemed to attract Boche 
flyers. This town was in constant danger too from the bombers who fol- 
lowed the Moselle toward Toul. And if the anti-aircraft guns made the air 
around Toul uncomfortable the planes came back along the river. So Liver- 
dun was reasonably sure of attention from overhead. A canal passed under 
a part of the town and on clear nights when the airplanes were particularly 
active the population was wont to retreat to the tunnel to sleep on the tow 
path. Many of the Battalion men did likewise, forsaking their pup tents. 
Those who during quiet periods scorned the tunnel, did not place it beneath 
their dignity to rush "hotfoot" for the tow path when bombs began to drop. 
They made such speed that sometimes the lack of a proper respect for sharp 
turns in the canal sent some of them headlong into the water. 

About the last of the month Major Hubbell received orders directing him 
to return to the United States for the purpose of training troops. Before 
leaving he addressed the Battalion, expressing his appreciation for the. co- 
operation of the men, and his regret at leaving just when big things were about 
to happen. A farewell party was given by the officers on the night of August 
30th and he left the next day. When about three hundred miles off the coast 
of France the "Mt. Vernon," on which he was a passenger, was torpedoed. 
The ship with a great gap torn in her side was able to reach Brest. He sailed 
again, this time on the " Wilhelmina, " and after reaching the States completed 
a course in the War College at Washington. He was promoted to the rank 
of Lieutenant Colonel and assigned as Signal Officer to the 16th Division, then 
at Camp Kearny, California. 

Captain Griest was on leave at the time and Lieutenant Meigs ran the 
Battalion until the former returned on September second, to take command 
of the organization. Meigs was taken from his beloved Supply job to com- 
mand Company "D" with Lieutenants Price and Guy as his assistants 
Lieutenant Foust remained in command of Company "E," retaining Lieu- 
tenant Hasskarl. Lieutenant Pearson became the Supply Officer. Lieutenants 
Donaldson and Woodward were transferred to other organizations. Sergeant 
Major Magill continued to care for the duties of the adjutant's office. The 
following gives the line-up : 

Captain Griest — Commanding 

Headquarters Supply Medical 

2nd Lt. Pearson 1st. Lt. Macfarlan 

Adjutant Supply Officer Medical Officer 

Company "D" Company "E" 

1st Lt. Meigs, Commanding 1st Lt. Foust, Commanding 

2nd Lt. Price 2nd Lt. Hasskarl 
2nd Lt. Guv 




AT LIVERDUN 



i"_' 



ST. MIHIEL 193 



With the exception of the group who were operating and maintaining the 
office at Saizerais and the motor men who were busy overhauling the machines, 
the Battalion spent the latter part of August in rest. Permission was granted 
a few of the men to visit Nancy, about 25 kilometers distant. In order to reach 
the city, it was necessary to walk to Marbache and at that place board a 
street car. To play safe the men approached a civilian in the latter town, to 
inquire as to the proper car. Little information could be secured how- 
ever for the civilian could not seem to understand what the Americans 
wanted. 

"Let me try it," said Slim Spangler. 

"Monsieur," he asked, "Street-ee car-ee run-ee from-ee here-ee to Nancy?" 

"Je ne comprends pas," was the reply. 

"Darn these Frenchmen," was Slim's comment, "They can't understand 
their own lingo!" 

Early in September preparations for the "show" developed rapidly. The 
Corps called for help in the transportation of troops. Sixteen trucks were 
sent to haul the Second Division from Colombey-les-Belles to positions near 
the line. This work was done at night without lights, and as the rain had again 
started, the roads were treacherous. 

Next in order was the hauling of ammunition. The 406th delivered some 
thirty thousand rounds of machine gun ammunition, and two thousand each 
of 75 mm. and 155 mm. shells. But operating and construction jobs were 
becoming urgent, and every available man was required for the work. The 
Corps agreed, therefore, to furnish relief drivers if the Battalion furnished 
trucks with chauffeurs and lookouts. Armstrong tells of a couple of these 
trips, on one of which he came to grief: 

"One night we were sent out about 5:30 to report to Marbache, 
a large French ammunition center. After "parleying" we got loaded 
about 1 1 130 and started for the front. After driving around until 
daylight, we found ourselves in the town of Mamey. Starting up 
a road which led direct to the third line trenches, an M. P. told us the 
Boche were shelling the roads and killing a lot of artillery men and 
horses. But Conway and Cavanagh decided with me to go on to 
get rid of our loads. After a little drive we reached a road on which 
ahead of us they had just killed four American boys and two horses 
on a caisson. We were held by traffic for a short time. Fritz, in the 
meantime, had been shelling, killing and wounding quite a number 
of boys. We had scarcely gone a thousand yards until we came upon 
six French three-ton trucks stuck and the road blocked. We decided 
to go around them and made our way through a field. After going on 
for about twenty minutes we were stopped again ; getting out and look- 
ing back we saw Fritz drop over a few large ones and clear the French 
trucks away. We reached our destination that afternoon at 4:30 and 
started back for our company, having had nothing to eat all this time. 



i 9 4 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



"Another night we had gone over a large pontoon bridge. There 
was a very sharp turn and a string of three-ton trucks coming in 
the opposite direction. We turned too far and our truck went over an 
eighteen-foot bank. I tried to jump but was thrown and landed on 
my left knee. Cavanagh being in the rear came to my assistance 
and we tried to find the other chauffeur, as we thought he was pinned 
under the car, but he had gotten out safely. I was taken to the 
hospital the next day." 

Frequently these errands were completed only because of the intelligence 
and initiative of the chauffeurs and noncoms of the 406th. Not once 
was a vehicle belonging to this Battalion abandoned by the wayside. If a 
machine came to grief one man was always left to guard it while another found 
his way back to the Battalion to obtain help. Urffer tells what was done with 
Armstrong's truck: 

"The shop crew was delegated to move the truck back on the 
road and as this spot was in range of the enemy guns, the Huns 
naturally took great pains to keep well informed as to what was going 
on there. So, whenever we heard the noise of a "plane up," we 
took cover, and in this way, managed to get the truck back on the 
road without any punishment from Fritz." 



During the Marne offensive, when clothing was not readily obtainable, it 
was sometimes necessary to pick up from abandoned German stores, service- 
able garments. Daniels, better known as "Corporal Dinny," or "One-punch 
Daniels," thus acquired a Boche shirt, built on the lines of a night gown. 
He managed to retain possession of it during the work at Saizerais. Just before 
the St. Mihiel drive, the men were working twenty or more hours a day and 
when they had a chance to sleep, it took more than an ordinary air raid to 
chase them to the abris. Also, so few air warnings proved serious, that it 
was customary when the alert was given, for the men to turn over and sleep 

the more soundly. Dinny had 
been a great collector of sou- 
venirs. He always was sur- 
rounded by a lot of his tro- 
phies. Near the camp one 
night an ammunition dump 
caught fire. The exploding 
shells gave an imitation of an 
air raid — only many times 
worse. Most of the men de- 
cided that the abri was not 
such a bad place after all. 
Armstrong's Truck Dinny was the last man to 




ST. MI HI EL 



i95 



go. He had on his Boche shirt which extended nearly to his ankles. He put 
on his helmet, picked up his gas mask, collected his souvenirs, and without 
any great haste started for the cave, "cussing" the Boche at every step. When 
he was about fifty feet from the cave a Boche plane passed over. It fired. 
A hidden machine gun crew nested a few feet from the spot Dinny was passing. 
It began to fire at the plane, which returned the compliment. Both were using 
tracer bullets and firing at about 200 to the minute. Dinny looked up at the 




The Town of Montsec as Viewed from Montsec Heights 



first shot, discarded his souvenirs at the second, his helmet and mask at the 
third, pulled up the long shirt at the fourth, and was twenty feet inside the 
cave at the fifth. 

"What's your hurry, Dinny?" asked Banholzer. 

"Well I'll tell you, Kid. I had a notion to stay out there and watch the 
fire works. Then I had another that beat the other all to the devil. As long 
as I had my running clothes on, I decided to run in here." 

The tent camp in the meadow at Liverdun was exposed to air observa- 
tion and, besides, the nights were becoming extremely cold. So, on the fifth 
of September, the Battalion moved into a series of stable and hay loft 
billets within the town. 

The positions throughout this sector had been almost stationary for four 
years and were well organized. There were signal lines in all directions. 
In Saizerais the French had two switchboards to which the First Division 



196 THE FIRST BATTALION 

Signal men had added an American board. The concentration of troops in 
the area made necessary the installation of three more. Even with all of this 
equipment the operators had their hands full. As Craigmile says: 

"The living conditions at Saizerais were fairly good, but that 
office was a madhouse. Our switchboard equipment was very much 
overloaded, and it was a common thing to have all the cords up and 
still see the drops falling like snowflakes. Nevertheless we managed 
to give fairly good service." 

In order to check all of the existing maps and to have absolutely reliable 
information concerning routes when new circuits were ordered, Lieutenant 
Hasskarl with Murdaugh and Collins made surveys of the territory between 
Noviant and Pont-a-Mousson. Instructions to these men necessarily were 
meagre and not entirely satisfactory to the methodical "Dad" Murdaugh, 
who wrote, "We were sent out to get acquainted with the lay of the land with 
specifications : 

"'Don't know which route, 
Don't know how many circuits will be needed, 
Don't know when we will want them, 
But get the information d quick.'" 

As preparations became more active, another call was made for the 
Battalion vehicles. During the Aisne-Marne offensive the machines at Corps 
Headquarters had been used so incessantly that many were entirely out of 
service. Chauffeur McFarland with a car and V. P. King, Geib, Giles, A. E. 
McCann and Herzer with motorcycles were dispatched to Saizerais where 
they entered into a long period of continuous driving, day and night, convoying 
ammunition trains to advance depots, carrying observers to points of vantage 
from which they might note the effects of gas and of different types of shells, 
and doing miscellaneous courier duty between the corps and divisions. Dur- 
ing this service, King was hit by an ammunition truck, his arm and leg broken 
and the motorcycle demolished. He remained in the hospital until long after 
the Armistice was signed. In addition to the loss of King, this service with 
the Corps cost the Battalion one car and two motorcycles, the other three 
motorcycles being returned for repairs in October. 

As the divisions moved toward their positions in the line, various ex- 
changes were turned over to details from the Battalion. Gretzler and Mum- 
ford were assigned to the dugout at Domevre, from which could be seen the 
enemy artillery in action across the valley. At Tremblecourt, Long with his 
small crew operated an important office through which passed many circuits 
to neighboring corps and divisions. The switchboard was of French manu- 
facture and was so worn that it required all of Long's ingenuity to keep it in 
service. Devlin took over the exchange at Martincourt and was kept busy on 



ST. MIHIEL 



J 97 



the lowstake lines running 
toward Pont-a-Mousson 
and St. Jacques. He was 
joined on the night of the 
attack by Sergeant Klin- 
gensmith. In a well tim- 
bered dugout on the south 
slope of the hill at Manon- 
ville, Buehler and Cannon 
cared for the telephone 
needs of the Fifth Marines. 
Gaghagen ran the ex- 
change in a huge dugout 
at Minorville, and his 
small group of operators 
and maintenance men 
were almost lost in their 
rat- and cootie-infested 
home. It might in its cor- 
ridors and caverns have 
comfortably accommo- 
dated a thousand men. 

These forward ex- 
changes were busy places, 
but even busier were the 
offices at Saizerais and 

Liverdun where all of the Corps business was centered. Lieutenant Guy 
was in charge at Saizerais and with him were Spears, Miller and Heisler 
doing the maintenance, and Lynch in charge of the telephone operating. 
Earlix was in charge of the telegraph service, and day after day the six tele- 
graph operators handled a business so great that when the Corps was relieved 
after the drive had reached its limit, the incoming organization assigned twelve 
men to handle the work. Dickson established the exchange at Liverdun and 
turned it over to Gallo who handled the steady flow of messages toward the 
rear. 

The tables of organization for a telegraph Battalion called for twelve 
telephone operators. The Battalion officers thought they had estimated 
liberally when sixteen men were trained for this work. But to serve all of the 
exchanges just mentioned required thirty. Operating was not a job which 
any of the men would have chosen. It was "fussy" work. And the American 
Army had grown so rapidly that the importance of using code names was not 
thoroughly appreciated by some of the newer arrivals in France. Gallo says: 




The Dugout at Minorville 



i 9 8 THE FIRST BATTALION 

"Many times we had to refuse service; for instance — some one 
would call the 406th Telegraph Battalion. Our instructions were 
to say, 'We do not know the 406th Telegraph Battalion, never heard 
of them.' If the person had called for 'Buster 41,' he would have 
gotten the '406th' at once. But a good many never realized what 
the codes amounted to and most of them tried to get around them 
by saying, 'This is Captain or Major So-and-So.' Well, we had to 
refuse them too, and if they cussed too hard we switched them on 
to the 'old man' (Colonel Voris) for a cooling down." 

Operating seven exchanges and maintaining the lines between them, to- 
gether with furnishing large truck details for hauling troops and ammunition, 
left few from a Battalion of a couple of hundred men for new construction. 
But the troops of the 1st Army had started an eight-wire line from Toul to 
Saizerais and called for assistance, fearing that they would be unable to com- 
plete it in time for the attack. During four days of excessive rain 
Lieutenant Price with all of the men who could be spared ran the circuits 
along the railroad from Toul to Pagny-sur-Meuse while the 401st Telegraph 
Battalion (recruited from the New England Telephone and Telegraph Com- 
pany) continued the line to 1st Army Headquarters at Ligny en Barrois. 
This line was probably one of the most irritating pieces of construction that 
had been assigned to the Battalion. The time was extremely short and it 
was a long trip from Liverdun to the job. The line was erected on poles, 
most of which were "H" fixtures. There was a high and thorny hedge running 
along the railroad and each coil of wire had to be dragged over this hedge, 
taken up over the crossarm and handed down on the other side. And the rain 
beat down constantly. However, the line was completed, and in time for the 
offensive. 

As new divisions were assigned to the Corps the French line leading 
along the main axis toward Domevre became too heavily loaded to handle 
the business. A detachment was gathered by Miller and eight additional 
wires placed on these poles. Fortunately, the underground cable which 
carried the line under the roads at crossings to prevent its being cut down by 
the movement of observation balloons, contained enough wires for the new 
circuits. 

The time of the attack drew near. While the Army circuits were being 
hurried, men from the maintenance details ran circuits from the Corps switch- 
board at Saizerais to railheads and to ammunition dumps at Marbache, 
Millery, Custines and Champigneulles. Arrangements were made for taking 
care of the forward lines. Additional material was sent to various advance 
centers. Ryno was made a supervising wire chief and traveled constantly 
through the forward regions, inspecting exchanges to see that everything was 
fit. From a communication standpoint, all was in readiness for the offensive. 



ST. MI HI EL 



199 



At one o'clock on the morning of September twelfth there was started such 
a barrage as had never before been known. For four hours it continued. 
The men in the small exchanges up the line were in a position to appreciate 
its intensity. Buehler and Cannon at Manonville and Devlin and Klinge- 
smith at Martincourt with their details were in the midst of it, being ahead of 
the American artillery, but Gretzler at Domevre was up on the plateau from 
which he could watch the action. Gaghagen in 
his huge dugout at Minorville was so far under- 
ground that, as he said later, except for trouble 
on his lines he should hardly have known there 
was anything extraordinary going on. 

Koser gives a realistic description : 

"By one o'clock of the morning of 
September 12th the First Corps office 
with its four boards was ready for the of- 
fensive. 

"At that hour I was asleep. At ten 
minutes past, our barrage opened up. 
Suddenly the whole world rocked. It was 
magnificent, and it was terrible. I sat up 
in my bunk to listen. Just then, in burst 
our Chief Operator, Mike Lynch, calling 
for me to turn to and help the night man, 
Dave MacRonald. 

"The very first call I answered was 
from the C. G. of the Fifth Division, who 
asked for 'Buster 3,' the code for Gen- 
eral Craig. No man in the world could 
have refrained from 'listening' in for a 
moment. The C. G. said that every- 
thing was going fine, no retaliation fire. 
Each Division of the Corps was heard 
from during the next half-hour, and when 
the first let-up came I stole out on to the 
hill to have a look about. I'll attempt 
no description of the scene. If I did jus- 
tice to it, no one would believe me. All 
along the salient was an inferno of fire, 
while the mighty thunder of the artillery 
kept the skies and earth throbbing. For 
fifteen minutes I gazed on this greatest 
artillery concentration the earth has ever 
seen, and then ran back to the office. 

"Our board wasn't very busy until 
the Zero Hour, 5 A. M. But when the 
Infantry went over, hell burst loose in The "Old Man"— Col. Vons 




200 THE FIRST BATTALION 

that office. There were four positions, and more than enough traffic 
for four operators. I worked from three to eight in the morning, took 
two hours off, came back at ten, was relieved at twelve, went back at 
two and then stuck it out pretty much uninterruptedly until late in 
the evening. The office was like a madhouse that first day, the boards 
were too close together and we all yelled like furies to make ourselves 
heard. Artillery, Signal Corps, Ambulance, Infantry, Aviation, Tanks, 
Pigeon Service, Gas, Engineers — all pell-melled into this office, 
each in a desperate hurry and fighting for right of way. Some- 
times, when I look back on that day, I feel that should I ever be 
asked whether I know anything about operation, I can truthfully 
say that once upon a time I had a bit of experience with a little 
board tucked away beneath a hill 'way off in a neck of the woods 
you've never heard of." 

These details kept their exchanges working, and repaired the frequently 
torn wires. When the direction of the advance was determined, Colonel Voris 
ordered an open wire line run through Lironville to Limy. Light crossarms 
with Repp insulators and other material were brought up from Toul, and Mur- 
daugh started his circuits north from Domevre. The work progressed rapidly 
through Manonville to Noviant as the French poles were still almost intact. 
But after the first kilometer north of Noviant all poles were gone and new ones 
had to be cut from the neighboring forests and carried to the road. 

The advance across the sector was so rapid that on the first day Saizerais 
seemed to drop into the S. O. S. Prisoners by the thousands were collected 
in a field back of Corps Headquarters. The machinery for handling them was 
swamped. One gang of five hundred came down the road. Four M. P.'s, 
two mounted and two on foot had them in charge. They halted for a rest 
just as dusk was gathering. As one of the guards dismounted a prisoner 
leaped at the horse. The whole crowd instantly came to life. There was 
no excitement among the M. P.'s, however. A couple of well directed shots, 
resulting in as many dead Germans, convinced the captives that their life 
expectancy was infinitely longer as prisoners than as "bullet dodgers" — especi- 
ally when the bullets were coming from American pistols. 

On the second day, a counter-offensive was started by the enemy against 
the 23rd Infantry of the Second Division. Artillery support was needed 
badly and the divisional artillery could not reach the oncoming Boches. 
Corps Headquarters was called to see if word could be delivered to the divisions 
to the right or left. Corps Headquarters telephoned to the 82nd Division and 
to the 5th, but neither of these was within range. There was only one 
thing left, and that was to call on the French artillery. But the line was in 
trouble. Craigmile and Lester who were at the switchboard trying to make 
the connection for General Craig, the First Corps Chief of Staff, were at their 
wits' end. However, they set about examining the circuits and found a break 



ST. MIHIEL 201 



between the French board and its connection to the trunk leading to the 
French artillery board in another part of the town. They cleared the trouble 
in three minutes and the French artillery set down a barrage which enabled 
the 23rd Infantry to stop the attempted German action. 

According to the plans at General Headquarters, the American Forces 
were to carry on two offensives during September. The St. Mihiel attack was 
to begin around the 10th, and about September 25th an American force was 
to move on the Argonne. The plans provided that the First Army Corps was 
to assist in opening the St. Mihiel drive, but on the fourth day was to with- 
draw and move to the west to take part in the Argonne offensive. 

The Corps was withdrawn as prearranged. On the seventeenth Lieutenant 
Hasskarl with his "flying squadron" left to prepare the new Headquarters 
with telephone facilities. 

Throughout the eighteenth preparations were made for moving all of the 
Corps troops, including the 406th, and as night gathered, a convoy consisting 
of over a thousand trucks and other motor vehicles was on the roads headed 
for the new center of action. 




Chapter XXI 



The Arponne 






rID orders had been issued to envelope the transfer of troops from 
the St. Mihiel region in the greatest secrecy. No vehicles of any kind 
were to be allowed on the roads before one hour after sunset nor after 
one hour before sunrise. During hours of daylight all vehicles were to be off 
the roads and concealed under trees. No camp fires were permitted. The end 
of the column, made up of the 322d Field Battalion and the 406th Telegraph 
Battalion left Saizerais by the light of a brilliant moon shortly after nine o'clock. 
When the train reached the main road leading to Toul an artillery outfit, the large 
guns drawn by caterpillar tractors creeping slowly along, held up progress and 
the end of the Corps' column did not pass Toul until two o'clock. Daylight was 
beginning to break as the column passed through Void, but as rain was falling 
and there was no chance for Boche observation, orders forbidding daylight 
travel were withdrawn and the movement continued. Frequently French 
artillery organizations passing along the road separated the units. But the day 
wore on with the weary men cramped in the trucks munching their sandwiches 
and corned beef, and alighting to stretch whenever the column was stalled. 

By evening the convoy had become widely scattered and the 406th 
proceeded under its own officers, stopping at Ligny for mess. Bar-le-Duc 
was passed in total darkness and Rumont was reached at midnight. 



THE JRGON 



The route now led along the splendidly maintained highways which had 
been an important factor in the defense of Verdun. Daylight dawned on the 
twentieth with the 406th hopelessly stuck on the road between Fleury and 
Rarecourt. Each side of the road was jammed with French artillery. A long 
supply train and an ambulance train were trying to work their way south and 
the Corps troops were working north. A. E. F. orders made the senior officer 
present (in this case Captain Griest) personally responsible for the immediate 
relief of any block. After hours of incessant labor, the trucks were maneu- 
vered through the narrow lane between the artillery. Fortunately rain was 
falling. Had the weather been clear, enemy bombs would have played havoc 
with the congested trucks and troops. 

About noon Rarecourt was reached. Lieutenant Hasskarl had already 
established the Headquarters' exchange. Old "Vic" had become chummy 
with the Mayor who turned over his house and barn to the Signal men for 
billets while the mess and shop organization were quartered in nearby sheds. 

Corps Headquarters occupied the Mairie. The French operated one sec- 
tion of switchboard and the second section was manned by Koser and Hale. 
In short order, Dickson with Mumford and his installers had two fifty-line 
American positions in service. The Battalion originally possessed four of 
these sections but the First Army commandeered two at La Ferte, which 
when activities ceased in November had not been returned. 

Before the American Telegraph office was established, the French Telegraph 
Office at Souilly had accumulated a hundred messages for the First Corps 




Corps Headquarters at Rarecourt 



2o 4 THE FIRST BATTALION 

which Earlix "took" over the French apparatus. The French instruments 
print the dots and dashes on a tape from which the operator at his leisure 
writes out the message. But that method did not suit Earlix, who relates: 

"I went to the French office and received the messages over their 
wire. They had a tape machine and ticking was very soft, but I 
could receive much faster and more accurately by ear than by read- 
ing the tape, so I tore the tape out and received from the sound. The 
French operator was sending to me in their 'continental' code, and the 
French soldiers running the French telephone and telegraph office 
were acting so excitedly over my not paying attention to the tape 
that they nearly had a fit. After receiving twenty-five messages my 
hand became tired, and I sent the orderly to our office for the type- 
writer. Putting the messages down on the typewriter instead of 
writing by hand, capped the climax for the Frenchmen. A few days 
later, I invited the French corporal to see our telegraph office and 
he was surprised beyond measure." 

The American telegraph office was placed in a small building in the school 
yard nearby, and as the telegraph business increased, Earlix with his detail were 
handling over sixteen thousand words daily. 

Major Wattles from the Third Corps at Rampont visited the Battalion 
on the afternoon of the arrival and found a sleepy crowd after their two 
nights and a day on the road. But more work was ahead. The French were 
planning to leave the sector and the Corps was to take over the operation of 
the area switchboards and lines on the following day. Plans were made for 
handling twelve exchanges. 

The next morning, September twenty-first, details took up their new 
duties, first struggling with the records of the lines which entered the switch- 
boards. At the same time survey details started over the region to gather 
data about the location of lines so that Captain Gauss might keep his circuit 
map up to date. In addition to the one at Rarecourt, the principal exchanges 
in the Corps net were at La Vignette, Clermont and Auzeville; these three, 
situated along the main route from St. Menehould to Verdun, were the bases 
of the 77th, 28th and 35th Divisions respectively, which were to open the 
Argonne attack. Lieutenant Guy was stationed at Clermont to supervise 
this forward lateral axis. Next in order of importance was the old French 
Army Headquarters at Triaucourt where Gaghagen with a small group oper- 
ated the French switchboard. Scattered between Triaucourt and the forward 
lateral were exchanges at Futeau, Beaulieu, Froidos, Lavoye, Grange le Comte, 
Autrecourt, Brizeaux and Foucaucourt, all operated by the 406th. 

The old French communication net to the rear of the forward lateral was in 
excellent condition and quite complete, this region having formed the left 
wing of the defenses of Verdun in 191 6. The liaison officer, Lieutenant de 
Lauriston, became particularly helpful to the Corps Signal Officer in this area 



THE ARGONNE 



205 



.■/■■■*• F^zy'-^f^u 




Outside the "P. C." (Post of Command) at Clermont 



because he had personally directed much of the construction centering around 
Clermont. There was, however, to be greater concentration of troops in this 
area than ever before. To provide for additional demands on the telephone 
service, Miller and Gretzler set out to place four circuits between Rarecourt 
and Clermont as the latter was an important center on the main axis of advance 
mapped out for the First Corps. 

The Clermont exchange was located in a huge dugout on the side of a hill 
from which could be seen the whole valley of the Aire as it stretched north- 
ward toward Varennes. From an observation post at the top of the hill, 
which was reached through a long dark tunnel at the side of the exchange, 
could be seen the German positions in the neighborhood of Vauquois and the 
eastern edge of the Argonne. The exchange equipment comprised two French 
switchboards. Outside of the exchange was a high tower which formed a 
terminal for the lines connecting to the exchange and also the test point for 
some fifty circuits which passed this point but did not enter the exchange. 
Long had a real job classifying these lines. The French details had been 
removed from this and all other exchanges in the Corps area except Rarecourt 
as soon as the Corps troops arrived. All of the sketches and records were 
in French or Italian as the Italians had recently vacated the Argonne sector. 
However, the men in charge of the exchanges and surveys prepared the data 
and Captain Gauss completed an up-to-the-minute circuit map. 

Just when Colonel Voris determined to start a new open wire line running 



2o6 THE FIRST BATTALION 

north from Clermont, the Corps commandeered many of the Battalion trucks. 
Eighteen were dispatched in charge of Urffer to report at Bois Lavoye. Others 
were sent to Souilly to haul wire from the army signal park to the divisions. 
Urffer and his detail with a load of ammunition started from Bois Lavoye on a 
long trip : 

"The ammunition details were of the hair-raising variety, for 
on these trips the 75 mm. shells had to be moved up to the 'second 
position,' meaning the one that the guns would reach following the 
success of the attack. The larger ones were to be hauled up to the 
former location of the 75's, this being the future position of the 155's 
and the 240's. 

"As nine cars was the limit in one section, our train was cut in 
two, and I was put in charge of the first which consisted of heavy 
trucks. Our light trucks were in the second section which was in 
charge of a noncom from the First Corps balloon section. 

"The roads north from a certain village were supposed to lead 
me to the 155 positions of the 35th Division. Such were the direc- 
tions given by some officer who evidently had never tried to find 
these positions himself for he was all wrong. When I reached the 
zone of action, no officers knew of any 155 positions. However, 
big guns were arriving and going into positions along a field about 
three hundred yards north of the main road. These big guns were 
being moved by tractors which dug up the roads to such an extent 
that motor trucks were stuck in the mud and movement was 
held up for long periods. To make matters worse and causing still 
more confusion, the Germans commenced shelling the roads and 
fields throughout the entire section. Somehow during the night 
while I was walking ahead getting information, my section got tangled 
up and when I got back, three of my 'D' Company men with their 
trucks had gone. I could not find any trace of the missing men. 
I did find two 'E' Company men during the search and I promptly 
attached their two truck loads to my train. After a trying effort 
which lasted about seven hours, we managed to locate the spot 
designated as the 155 positions, 35th Division, and unloaded. To 
negotiate the return journey we hooked the five trucks together as 
closely as possible and started 'home.' All but three men of the 
first section had done their work as per orders. Those men, Wm. 
Dobbie, Irving Kreider and George Erb, were thrown out of the 
train by being tangled up with an artillery regiment also moving up, 
and by the time they had extricated themselves from the horses and 
guns they were up against the road barriers of the reserve trenches 
and could plainly hear the artillery going into action. Kreider and 
Erb managed to connect up with the second section and came home 
with them, while to Mr. Wm. Dobbie goes the medal, for the Scotch- 
man saw a 155 in action, and one place was as good as another to 
him. So friend Dobbie carried his 155's right to the men who shipped 
them to Fritz. He managed to do this and still beat the rest of 
the detail back to our station by six hours." 



THE JRGONNE 



ioy 



As the time for the opening of the attack approached, the line north from 
Clermont, planned by Colonel Voris, was started so as to be ready when the 
divisions began to advance. Construction on this line, which became familiar 
as the "high line," continued until the Armistice. It was built some two hun- 
dred meters away from the main highway to safeguard it should the highway 
be shelled. And there seemed every chance that this highway might receive 




"Shipping Them to Fritz' 



attention from the enemy, as shells were constantly falling around Clermont. 
Poles were cut along the edge of the forest and carried across the fields. The 
men were kept scattered as much as the work would permit, so as not to at- 
tract too much notice. All of the men that could be collected were used on 
the new line and a plea was sent to the Army that it take over the exchanges 
in the rear areas to release the men for work on the forward line. But these 
little exchanges were not on the American Army axis of advance and the Army 
Signal Officer perf erred lending to the 406th a company from the 401st 
Telegraph Battalion to help with the construction. All of the men of the 
322d Battalion who were not otherwise engaged were also loaned to Lieutenant 
Price and the line grew rapidly past Neuvilly and toward the front. 

When on the afternoon of September 25th a field order was issued which 
set the following day for an attack, some of the small offices toward the rear 
were abandoned and circuits "cut through" to relieve as many maintenance 



208 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



men as possible for the forward areas. The exchanges along the advance 
lateral had become increasingly active as the divisions moved from these 
bases toward their positions in the lines. They took with them their Signal 
men and left the 406th Battalion to carry on not only the Corps business but 





* 



v&sm 




i 



The Bridge at Boureuilles 



that which developed from the administrative work of the divisions as well. 
At Vignette where Murdaugh was located, plans were made to move the 
switchboard in case the Germans should begin to shell the town, from the little 
frame building half buried in the side of the hill to a large and secure dugout 
nearby. As a further indication to Murdaugh at Vignette that attack was 
near, mounted couriers arrived and he was instructed to establish an advance 
message center for the Corps, using the mounted men to carry messages should 
the circuits between La Vignette and Corps Headquarters be shelled out of 
service. Murdaugh says: 

"This as good as told us that the band was going to play that 
night. Up to this time only an occasional shell came rolling in. We 
were thankful that in the advance the wires held to the rear of us and 
that the mounted runners did not have any errands back to Corps 
Headquarters." 

The offensive started with a barrage at eleven-thirty on the night of Septem- 
ber twenty-sixth over the whole front, the First Corps holding the left sector. 
It seemed as if all of the artillery in the world had been concentrated, making 



THE JRGONNE 



:oq 



the sky a blaze of light and quaking the earth with the terror of its explosions. 

The next morning the reports were of most satisfactory progress and the 
high line was pushed ahead, while Woodward, Miller and Tritle were 
sent forward to make surveys. Now that the advance had started, the divi- 
sions needed more wire and the trucks of the 406th were dispatched to the 
Army and loaded for the divisions in line. Their progress was hampered by 
the crowded roads. And the bridge at Boureuilles had been destroyed by the 
Germans. To make the congestion worse, two mines had been exploded near 
Boureuilles, effectively blocking the roads. The trucks were jammed without 
turning a wheel for sixteen hours and many Americans were killed and wounded 
'by the well directed shell fire. Although shells were landing all around, the 
six drivers of the 406th escaped injury, the only "casualty" being a button 
which was shot from Kreider's coat. 

It could not be determined whether the attack would follow north along 
the Argonne Forest or northeast through Baulny, but Corps Headquarters 
decided to establish an advance P. C. at Cotes de Forimont. Lieutenant 




The "High Line" 



Price was recalled from his work on the high line, and collecting his P. C 
gang under Cowan, he hurried to Forimont which had just been vacated by the 
35th Division, and installed the switchboards. The Chief of Staff distinguished 
the exchange by assigning to it the code of "Bonehead." The new open wire 
line had been completed to Neuvilly, at which point circuits were connected 



LLQLND 

— Main Highways 
"~ Railroads 

The High Line 

Scale 



5 10 

Kilometers 




THE ARGONNE 
210 



THE JRGONNE 211 



to "Bonehead," this work being completed about nine in the evening with the 
rain pouring in torrents. 

Strange as it may seem, there were a few men in the Battalion who had as 
yet avoided intimate contact with cooties. Tomlinson, possibly because he 
had been a cook, was one of these. He was in the "Bonehead" detachment, 
having been transferred at his own request from mess duty. That the new 
home was not the most pleasant place, even in war time may be gathered from 
his remarks : 

"Some twenty of us were sent up to this dugout, which was one of 
a series on the French side of a hill. It was here that I found my first 
cootie. Great excitement stirred the men and a general cootie hunt 
was started. Such a time as we had taking baths in a basin! We 
stayed at 'Bonehead' for about five weeks, during which life was one 
mad scramble, first away from cooties and then after something to 
eat." 

While everybody was working at top notch, another call came to the 
Battalion to appoint men for the Army Candidates School. Dickson and Lutz 
were the men sent away. The hole left vacant in the office at Rarecourt was 
filled by taking Gretzler from his dugout at Grange le Comte, and Buehler 
was made top sergeant to succeed Lutz. The new candidates went through 
the school with flying colors. Lieutenant Dickson was made Assistant 
Signal Officer of the 41st Division and Lieutenant Lutz was placed in the 
312th Field Signal Battalion. 

Hasskarl and Guy remained in charge of the exchanges at Rarecourt and 
Clermont as the Signal Officer of the Corps insisted that commissioned officers 
remain at these important places. Foust took over the construction of the 
high line and pushed it on toward Boureuilles. To facilitate the work, the 
men were moved to Varennes. To Meigs had been assigned the supervision 
of operation and maintenance. 

During the first week in October the bulk of the Battalion's work was far 
north of Rarecourt and the Battalion Headquarters were moved to Locheres, 
a small village on the edge of the Argonne, also occupied by the T,22d Battalion 
and a dressing station of the 28th Division. Locheres had been occupied by 
many troops and it was full of rats. Hardtack had a wonderful time assisting 
the men in hunting the rodents. The rats seemed to be particularly fond of 
Company "E's" clerk, Grimm, especially at night. He decided to find the 
reason, and upon investigation he discovered that Giles had been storing 
cheese beneath the straw bed. Needless to say, thereafter, Giles did not 
use Grimm's bed for a larder. The shops were installed in a large barn and 
the mess organization in another. At this time, Lieutenant Schmidt joined 
the Battalion and was appointed Battalion Adjutant to relieve Sergeant-Ma j or 
Magill who had been doing double duty since the beginning of September. 



112 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



Lieutenant Foust's detachment was in pup tents with batteries of 75's both 
in front and in back of them. These guns drew the fire of the enemy but 
despite the distractions, the second week in October saw the open circuits 
completed to Varennes. All of the important circuits south of Varennes were 
cut over to the high line and communication between "Bonehead" and the 
divisions was very satisfactory. Foust continued the line to Montblainville. 
From that point north, the construction was turned over to Lieutenant Meigs. 




On the Neuvilly-Varennes Road 



His detachment with a detail from the 322d Battalion salvaged many of the 
poles upon which the Germans had strung their camouflage screens along the 
roads toward Cheppy, and used them between Montblainville and Exermont. 
From the latter town north there was a line built by the enemy and as almost 
all of the poles were in good condition, they were utilized to reach Apremont. 

At some points it was necessary to work directly in front of American 
Artillery. The shells on their way to the enemy scarcely cleared the heads 
of the construction men. At such places it was worse than useless to erect 
poles, for they would have been knocked down in short order. So holes were 
dug and poles left for erection as soon as the guns changed location. 

Each morning it was Captain Griest's duty to report at Colonel Voris' 
office in Rarecourt to go over the situation and read the reports of operations. 
On October tenth, the Colonel informed the Captain that he had been com- 
missioned a Major. The new Major continued to command the Battalion 



THE JRGONNE 



during the remainder of the war and until it was prepared for return to the 
United States. 

Meigs carried the high line as far as Apremont, but the Boche still occupied 
the forest close by and machine gun nests infested its eastern edge. Small 
groups went forward and reached Chatel Chehery. But on account of 




1 — Varennes 2 — Chatel Chehery 3 — Cornay 



conditions in that section it was decided that the high line had been carried 
as far as was then necessary. 

During this lull Lieutenant Meigs moved his detachments into a dugout in 
Varennes so they would be closer to the scene of operations when construction 
should start again. He also desired to reserve this dugout as a test point in 
case the Army should complete a forward lateral then being constructed. 
Although the troops had advanced beyond Chatel Chehery, the roads near 
Varennes were still badly congested by long trains of supplies going north and 
trains of wounded moving south. 

At this time two more officers were lost to the Battalion. Foust and Guy 
were returned to the United States for the purpose of training troops. Dad 
Murdaugh took charge of the office at Clermont, and Gretzler continued at 



2i 4 THE FIRST BATTALION 

Rarecourt. The duties of adjutant again fell upon the shoulders of Magill 
as Lieutenant Schmidt was put in command of Company "E." 

Work on the high line was resumed when the 28th Division drove the enemy 
back. At Apremont the line joined another German line which was in such 
good condition that the work went on rapidly until Chatel Chehery was 
reached. 

The enemy made a strong stand around Marcq and Grandpre, but at the 
same time there were persistent rumors of a break in the German morale. 

It was decided to place additional circuits on the line between Varennes 
and Chatel Chehery. The 406th started at the north end assisted by a 
company from the 322d, while the Army Signal Office agreed to start work at 
the south end. The rain was falling and the road along the west side of the 
Aire valley was choked with the heavy traffic of supplies for the fighting 
troops. The 406th finished the circuits from the exchange at Chatel 
Chehery to the point where the high line met the main road, but the Army 
troops were caught in the jam and failed to reach the job. Lieutenant Meigs 
with his trusty detail from the 406th continued work until long after dark, 
and starting again early the following morning, completed the circuits. 




sv~m 



Chapter XXII 



THE lull in the Argonne attack gave the construction details an opportunity 
to prepare for the next move. But the operators at their switchboards in 
the dugouts were busier than ever as plans were made for a renewal of the 
advance. Tact, diplomacy, judgment, coolness, and a ready wit were necessary 
to cope successfully with the many situations which were bound to arise in deal- 
ing with the "subscribers." It will be recalled that in the United States during 
the war, commercial telephone service had to give way at times to the demands 
of the emergency service required by the government. And the girls at the 
switchboards had no easy time satisfying the requests for service which in 
many cases seemed urgent to the user of the service, but which in reality were 
of secondary importance when compared with government calls which had a 
direct bearing on the war situation. 

Consider then the men at the switchboards near the front lines, who were 
at the beck and call of officers as they directed the progress of actual battle. 
Every officer thought his calls should receive immediate attention. This was 
perfectly natural. Many times the calls were for help, sometimes for more 



2i6 THE Fl K S T B A T TA LIO \ 

men. sometimes r ammunition. Perhaps there was need for an artillery 
attack to repulse the on coming enemy: or it may have been important informa- 
tion to be communica i be transmitted to the front. 
C osi ' • ' - ■ . . ssity for quick communication, and couple with it the shell 

sand the i vision from explosions of bombs and the firing 

g ins and a picture of the life in a front line exchange may be visualized. 

There were regulations which stipulated that certain officers could secure 

rmectdon t< a Lesired teleph a though that telephone were in use. 

the Chic:' of Staff .. R >urt called for a certain General. 

The ( was talking but the Chief of Staff had the right of way. Koser 

was at the board, "cut in oeral's '. 

"1 beg your pardon, sir. but — " 

"I'm using this line." was the response in such a tone that Koser could sec 

visions .. court martial. Just then the Chief of Staff came back and his 

ands were put in such lai that Koser could see visions of two court 

tials. What 1: was a question. Koser decided that he would 

. r the General's wTath u I the Chic:' of Start. So he cut in on the 

busy line and thundered. 

"The Civ.; Staff demands immedial tion on this line!" 

It had the desired effect. 

Sometimes there were humorous incidents. Gallo was operating at "Rone- 
A lieutenant asked for a connection. When the connection was 
established Gallo could get no answer from the lieutenant who had pli 
th< call. 

"Hello! hello!" called Gallo. No res] ns 

"Hello. Bonehead!" he 

This ntly revived the lieutenant for he came back: 

"Who's a bonehead? Young man, i know who you are talking to?" 

"No, sir." 

"Well, this is Lieutenant and I want you to understand that I'm 

no I id." 

"Yes, sir." 

"What is your name and organization?" 

"I don't know, sir." from Gallo. which was in accord with regulations. 

"You don't know? I'm going to report you." 

Gallo w as - atmue the argument so he - i the lieutenent 

a French operator and as he says : 

"There was s me real fun because the lieutenant couldn't speak French 
and the operator couldn't understand English, so I let: him to cool off." 

When the lieutenant reported the matl Colonel Yoris. the Signal 

ad a good laugh, and then told him he was glad there were such 

ient operators with the First C< - - 




/vfert* flr»>f QrAs #»,.£/>■. 

Ojfi« ./ fit ^/<f <S/po«/ Cf'tv 
/£• - Oct- /f/<5 



SIGNAL LINES IN THE ARGONNE 



218 



THE FIRST B ATT J LION 



The operating crowd at "Bonehead" had a dull time when not on duty. 
There was nothing to do on the deserted hillside, and they used up their energy 
fighting rats, cooties, and fleas. Hannam was one of the operators: 

"The headquarters in this instance were in old French dugouts 
penetrating the hill possibly ioo feet, well reinforced with tin ceilings 
and walls to keep out the dampness. Air raids and shelling were a 
matter of indifference to us here; in fact, it was more or less of an 
amusement to stand at the front door and watch old Jerry drop them 
in the valley back of us. 

"Well, if the dugouts were intrenched, so were the rats. They 




1 — General Dickman. 2 —Colonel Voris. 3 — General Craig. 
IN FRONT OF "BONEHEAD" 



used to do squads right and left by battalions over the tin ceiling 
continuously and as soon as lights were out or it quieted down, they'd 
come out and run over our faces, chew our hair and eat our clothes, 
and they were ably assisted by fleas and cooties. The Germans were 
fighting every inch of ground above us here in the Argonne with 
their machine gun nests. 

"We existed at old 'Bonehead' for about five weeks. Traffic jams 
were on the roads for days at a time and for mile after mile. So 
supplies were more or less scarce and we lived on corned beef hash 
and French biscuits. The seats of our trousers were worn out and I 
had a hole as big as a plate burnt in the back of my coat, but we 



BONEH EJD" 219 



didn't care, for the news was good, and on this job we always had 
plenty of it." 

Peterson, another switchboard operator, wrote the following while at 
"Bonehead": 

"Time: Sunday afternoon — 1 o'clock. 

"Place: Cotes de Forimont. 

"Scene: Our little homelike dugout, Bonehead. 

"The hero sits on the lower deck of a pair of bunks with a well- 
worn bench pulled up to him. Candle and writing materials on the 
bench. Clothes, towels and accoutrements hang promiscuously 
about. A rat is playing hide and seek between the supports and the 
iron ceiling. The hero speaks to the rat in a light, musing manner: 

" 'Well, old timer, here we are all by ourselves. The boys are 
out pulling wire and you and I left here alone. Oh, I see that snicker 
on your face; you'd be a lot better satisfied if I went out too, so you 
could come down and look through my stuff and see if I brought 
in anything good to eat lately. It's no use, boy, I ate that candy just 
about as quick as I got it yesterday and cried for more; you'll have 
to double time if you want to beat me at that. You little bum ! You 
wait till a fellow puts his lights out before you come out in the open. 

" 'Say, did you see that party we had this morning? You sure 
would have liked that, I'll bet. They were the best hot cakes I've 
eaten since I left old U. S. A. Yes, we had to thin out the molasses a 
good bit to make it go around, but she went good, and listen, bo, if 
we don't get the ambition to clean up that batter can, you can have 
what's left. No, the molasses is all gone, but you better be glad to 
get the batter. Why? Because we're going to light out of these 
parts before long. And you're going to starve to death when you 
don't have two governments to pay your board bill. No, there's not 
going to be any more soldiers around here a-tall. Didn't you hear the 
news? Why, the Boche has given the war up as a bad job. Found 
out that he didn't know as much about it as he thought. He's trying 
to duck out now, get out from under; maybe we'll let him and maybe 
we won't, but any way you take it, he loses. So, old timer you'd 
better prepare for a hard winter. I've been sitting around here all 
morning doping it over. Yes sir, it's well over a year since I've been 
home and sometimes it seems like ten. So this morning I just took 
a little ride over the briny. You've never seen the Statue of Liberty, 
old boy, and you've missed a lot. She's about the best piece of 
scenery that ever a man looked at. But after I passed her I never 
looked back. I had my eyes on the dock, where we landed. I 
crossed the ferry and hopped a train and landed in Broad Street 
Station in nothing flat. And there's another sight you've missed, 
old boy. You think we fellows are just a big edition of yourselves and 
that we don't know anything else but holes in the ground. Well, 
you've got a lot to learn. If you could just see Broad and Chestnut 
once, those little beads in your head would pop out like splinters 
from a shell. Well, boy, I had mighty important business on hand, 



22o THE FIRST BATTALION 

but I just stood there for five minutes gazing in every direction and 
she was all there, not a single shell hole in the street and not a splatter 
of nicks and tears in a building nor a pane of glass missing. And a 
million pretty girls around — but when I noticed them I jumped quick, 
for my business came back to me. 

' 'I hopped on a train and went through a big rat hole that makes 
yours look as small as a flea on an elephant, crossed the river and 
hopped in a taxi, for those trolley cars are awful slow. I watched the 
old landmarks whiz by, sorta surprised that they were still stand- 
ing, and looking just the same as a year ago ; in fact, I began to wonder 
if I'd been over here with you fellows, in the biggest war in history. 
It began to fade like a dream, the Court House, the Armory, City 
Hall, little ole Harleigh, Browning Road, Hill Crest, Crestmont — 
Hey! Hey! there, chauffeur, whoa! wait a minute, turn to the left — , 
look out for No. 121. Yes sir, old rat, there she stood just as I left 
her. I was sorta expectin' to see her a different color, that old choco- 
late brown pretty well faded out, and I heard she was gonna be 
painted this month, but she looked good, for that's my home, old rat. 
There ain't no use you tryin' to imagine it and shinin' your eyes at 
me that way, and duckin' around the corner as if you were tired 
listenin', 'cause I'm gonna spin this yarn to the end. You've never 
seen anything like that little old house, and never will as long as you 
stay in this country. You wanta wise up and come to America after 
the war. 

' 'Well, old rat, I forgot the chauffeur and that little old taxi- 
meter, and ran up those steps in one hop. Rat, you'll never have 
anybody so glad to see you as they were. They hadn't finished 
breakfast yet, but my Peggy was there anyhow. I can't go into all 
the details, old boy, you wouldn't understand them, but Mother, 
Dad, Sis, and the Girl were all there, and they were just cleaning up a 
bunch of hot cakes. Ha, that makes your eyes shine, don't it? And 
listen here, varmint, they weren't the kind we had, made of flour and 
water with watered molasses on 'em, but flour, and milk with some sugar 
in to make 'em brown and butter on 'em and real maple syrup. And 
they were on china dishes and the dishes were on a white cloth, and 
the sun came trickling through the curtains and glinted on silver 
eating tools. Ha! Ha! You poor misguided rat, you're going back 
to your hole. You think I'm pulling some soldier bull on you ; goes to 
show you never lived any place but in a dugout. You want to snap out 
of it and get out in the world where people live, and see something. 
You don't believe either, I guess, that anybody would leave a feed 
like that just to look at me, do you? Well they did. They forgot 
all about eating, just to listen to stories of this business over here, 
but I said I'd rather tell 'em about it with a mouth full of those hot 
cakes, and wet my whistle with some of the best coffee in the world, 
au lait, too. You can put your hat on now, old rat, I'm through. 
I had to come right back here to see that old Bill Hohenzollern didn't 
pull any tricks on us at the last minute. He better not. He's 
getting off d — - easy if he takes what he's asking for, and if he 



" BON EH EJD" 



221 



tries to take the jump on us, he'll be cutting his own throat. But 
remember what I told you, you'd better be looking up a home for 
yourself where your grub supply will be more permanent. So long, 
I'll see you to-night.' Curtain." 

It was during this lull that Chauffeurs Gardiner and "Chubby" Johnson 
got into trouble. They were driving some of the officers to Locheres when 
one of the bearings on the car broke. They started with a motorcycle in 
search of another bearing. They did not return that evening and the next 
morning Gardiner telephoned that a car had run into them, knocking the 




Building Roads in the Recaptured Territory 



motorcycle into a ditch and that Johnson and he were in a hospital. Lieuten- 
ant Macfarlan went to see the patients. He located Gardiner who had been 
but slightly hurt, but nowhere was there any sign of "Chubby." Search was 
made through every possible channel to determine Johnson's whereabouts. 
Six weeks later a letter was received from him. He had been evacuated through 
various hospitals and had just recovered sufficiently to write. He was then 
at Bordeaux with a Signal Corps service company. He had received a cut in 
his leg which required twenty stitches, and his knee was so badly twisted that 
he was lame for months after he was discharged from the hospital. Gardiner 
quickly recovered but soon afterward was transferred to another branch of the 
service. 

The advance was still held around Marcq and the Army rapidly organized 
the area south of Varennes. Railroads were built along the valley of the Aire, 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



requiring constant watchfulness on the part of the maintenance detail at 
"Bonehead" so that telephone lines might be rerouted or raised before the 
railroad trains along newly built lines should rip down the circuits. A narrow 
gauge line was built through the Argonne Forest necessitating train dis- 
patching circuits and telephones. 

The French had a narrow gauge road running from La Vignette through 
the Forest passing Croix de Pierre and Maison Forestier to a point a mile 
south of the old Allied front line. The Boche had brought a narrow gauge 
railroad south through Champ Mahaut to approximately a mile north of the 
old German front trenches. The Army engineers planned to build the con- 
necting link for this railroad across what a few days before had been No 
Man's Land and thus reach Lancon, with a branch to Apremont, and ulti- 
mately to Grandpre which was still in the hands of the enemy. There were 
hundreds of tons of ammunition which had been delivered to positions in the 
middle of the Argonne Forest. This ammunition was needed at once at the 
new advanced gun positions. To repair the roads and to build new ones 
across the old No Man's Land, railroad connection to the quarry at Apremont 
was essential. 

Preliminary surveys were made for the necessary Signal lines and the 
material for the work was shipped to Varennes. The next morning, Lieutenant 
Meigs started sections north and south from the railway yard at Champ 
Mahaut and Lieutenant Hasskarl with a detail from Company "E" started 
north into the forest from the vicinity of Locheres. As soon as the circuits 
were working on the southern portion of the line, Meigs took his men on toward 
Lancon. 

As the Engineers succeeded in repairing the tracks leading south from 
Champ Mahaut, a hand car was given to Donbaugh to aid in the delivery of 
materials along the line. An "engineer" was needed for the car. A private 
in Donbaugh's colored detail said that he had been a railroad man in the 
States and he was put in charge of the car. For two days everything went 
well. There was a down grade on the line where the tracks were in bad shape 
and Sam had been warned to keep the car under control. Sam however, 
knew all about the railroad business. 

The next morning Donbaugh called the roll. When he came to Sam's name 
there was no response. He called it again. Still no response. 

"Where's Sam? Anybody know anything about him?" yelled out Don- 
baugh. 

"Ah tell you, Sergeant," one of the darkies spoke up. "You know Sam. 
Well, Sam he went down de hill in the han' cah. Ah guess he went too fas'. 
Cauz dey buried him, down theah at de bottom o' de hill. Ah doan 'specs 
he'll be heah dis mohnin'." 

In looking over the road and determining how poles might be cut and 



BON EH EAT) 



'■-3 



erected, one was appalled at the unbelievable courage and determination of 
the American troops who had driven the Boches out of the strong positions. 
The shell fire from the heavy guns had caved in the dugouts some of which 
were twenty feet under ground and built of concrete. Across the waste, the 
Engineers pushed their tracks and the 406th followed with the dispatch wires. 
The dispatch circuits were completed to Apremont and Lancon but Grand- 
pre remained in the hands of the Germans. On October twenty-fifth, an order 









Camouflaged Road in the Argonne 

was published calling for an offensive. The Companies of the 406th were 
collected at Varennes and Locheres, preparatory to making another drive with 
the open wire lead — the high line. Various places along the valley were 
examined in an effort to obtain quarters which would be nearer the center of 
operations, Locheres by this time being some distance from the active work. 
But the divisions were still massed around Chatel Chehery and Apremont, 
with their rear echelons in a splendid system of concrete dugouts which the 
Germans had built in the Forest around Champ Mahaut and Varennes. 
Through the ravines leading into the valley along the edge of the Forest, there 
were many dugouts and groups of cabins, but these were filled with traps and 
poison gas and it was unsafe to enter them. The advance Headquarters of 
the Corps still remained at "Bonehead" with the rear echelon at Rarecourt, 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



this being possible largely because Colonel Voris had provided open wire 
telephone lines as far as Cornay, enabling the furnishing of dependable tele- 
phone service between Corps Headquarters and the divisions up the line. 

Lieutenant Meigs was summoned to appear before Colonel Voris on October 
twenty-sixth. 

"What have I done now?" thought Meigs. It was not in fear and trembling 
that he entered the office. But he realized that he was facing a superior 
officer. And he would have to swallow any medicine that was handed to him. 

The Colonel sat at his desk. Meigs saluted. He felt that something was 
about to happen. 

The Colonel shoved a bundle of papers into his hands. 

"What does that mean?" demanded Colonel Voris. 

"I don't — " began the Lieutenant. 

"Don't talk back to me. I want an explanation." 

"But Colonel — " again began Meigs. 

"Didn't I tell you not to talk back to me? You've been getting us into 
hot water by helping yourself to whatever you wanted. Now you've got us 
into a fine mess." 

Meigs stood on one foot and then on the other. He nervously looked at 
the papers in his hands, trying to make head or tail of the matter. All he 
could see was a bundle of old requisitions for supplies. "You're in the army 
now" was the only thought that came to his mind. 

"Yes, sir," he said and saluted. 

"Just one thing I want to say to you." 

"Yes, sir," as he saluted again. 

"Just read that," the Colonel handed him a telegram, "and tell me how 
we are going to get out of such a pickle." 

Meigs took the slip of paper. He read it. He rubbed his eyes. Then he 
glanced out of a corner of his eye. He saw a twinkle in the Colonel's eye. 

"Haw! Haw! Haw!" as only Meigs can laugh. 

"Haw! Haw! Haw!" echoed the Colonel. 

The telegram read: "Notify ist Lt. Fielding P. Meigs, 406th Telegraph 
Battalion, he is promoted to Captain Signal Corps and have him forward ac- 
ceptance of Commission and oath of office immediately." 

The Germans were entrenched in formidable positions between St. Juvin 
and Grandpre. The American troops massed for the attack. Two telephone 
circuits between the Corps and the Headquarters of each division were essen- 
tial. As new organizations moved into the vicinity of Cornay and Fleville, 
the circuits were run up the valley. With the help of the 322d Battalion, 
eight circuits of twist supported by stakes recovered from the German 
stores at the Crown Prince dump in the Forest were quickly strung across the 
low lands between Varennes and Chatel Cheherrv. 



" BON EH E AD" 



-25 



Schmidt and McKay, the latter a new master signal electrician, set out 
with Major Griest to make observations on extending the high line. It 
seemed likely that the next advance would continue through St. Juvin, and 
on the hill south of Marcq there was an observatory from which with the aid of 
field glasses, Boche telephone lines could be traced. Maps captured by the 
divisional signal officers showed clearly the organization of the Boche territory, 
not only the telephone and telegraph lines, but also the supply depots and 
centers of industry. With the aid of these maps, the field glasses served to 
indicate what the Signal Corps could count upon in pushing the lines ahead. 
Near the top of the hill, American artillery had established a "flash ranging" 
station equipped with a telescope. From this telescope the artillery men were 
spotting the positions of the Boche guns by watching the flashes, and they 
permitted the Signal men to use the telescope for checking the course of Boche 
telephone lines. 

A large connecting tower was observed in a cemetery to the north of St. 
Juvin which seemed an ideal objective for the high line. Materials were 
hauled as secretly as possible into Marcq to be ready as soon as the advancing 
troops cleared the way. In the meantime, the north end of the circuits were 
overhauled to the crest of the hill and many self-appointed "free subscribers" 
were cut loose. The balloon and artillery organizations carried with them 
men experienced in telephone wiring who had connected telephones to the 
circuits, thereby securing service. 




226 THE FIR S T B A T T ALIO N 

As preparations were being made for fast work when construction started, 
another call came for appointees to the Candidates School. Murdaugh and 
Collins were dispatched to Langres and obtained their commissions the follow- 
ing February. The Battalion thereby lost two more valuable men. 

At the end of October the Battalion trucks were commandeered to go all 
the way back to Army Headquarters for signal supplies for the divisions 
which were assembling for the drive. The organization scheme prepared by 
the Chief Signal Officer provided that supplies be delivered by the Army as 
far as Corps Headquarters and from there to divisions by the Corps troops. 
This organization was not perfected, and the 406th throughout this operation 
hauled wire all the way from the Army to the divisions and in addition fre- 
quently hauled ammunition to the artillery positions. 

After the Marne advance, Colonel Voris with Majors Hubbell and Behn, 
prepared a report of the Signal Corps activities, recommending that the 
responsibilities of Signal Corps troops be shouldered by fewer men than were 
comprised in the field and telegraph battalions. After the St. Mihiel offensive, 
Colonel Voris reported to General Headquarters that he would be willing to 
try running his Corps with the Field Battalion alone. Late in October there 
was a rumor that the 406th would be relieved and transferred from the 
First Corps to the Third Army which was then being formed. Immediately, 
details from the 322d Battalion were attached to each of the exchanges run 
by the 406th, to observe methods of switchboard operation. But whiie this 
arrangement for training was being completed, the new offensive started 
and the Field Battalion details were withdrawn to work around division 
headquarters. 

On October thirtieth, Captain Meigs and Lieutenant Schmidt organized 
their forces for continuing the line north of Marcq early the next morning. 
As the section in which they were to work would be under enemy observation, 
these officers were instructed to keep their men in small detachments. 

The officers were to patrol the section constantly. There was a heavy fog ' 
as the work started and good progress was made in clearing the old Boche 
poles of scrap wire and in pushing the new copper wires while the visibility 
was low. Later the sun came out, and driving the mist away, disclosed to the 
Boche observers the glistening copper. A scattering machine gun fire was 
turned on the wires. Then the shells began to arrive from the German bat- 
teries and the men in the artillery observation posts on the hill objected to 
allowing the work to continue as it was drawing fire on the artillery positions. 
Captain Meigs told them that his orders were to stick until driven to cover by 
enemy fire. But the shells soon began to fall so close to the line that work 
was impossible. One shell sent a fragment through a wire which Riley was 
tying to the pole. The fragment had bounced off the pole on which he was 
working, but "Pat" stuck to his job until he had finished. 



BON EH E. -JD 



117 



Later in the day work 
was resumed. Lieuten- 
ant Schmidt's men were 
working from the foot of 
the hill. Captain Meigs' 
crowd were nearer the top . 
When the American bat- 
teries on the south slope 
opened fire, the shells on 
their way to the Boche 
scarcely cleared the tops 
of the poles. The whine 
as they flew past was con- 
tinuous, and the breeze 
could be distinctly felt. 
This seemed a little too 
close for comfort, but 
Forwood, Haislop and 
Spangler completed the 
job, climbing the poles 
until they could just 
reach the wires and fasten 
them with their arms 
stretched high above their heads, 
fog, another early start was made 




Lieutenant Colonel Kelly 



The next day to take advantage of the 
But the artillery commander had sta- 
tioned four of his captains along this section of the line with instructions 
that no Signal men should be allowed on the north slope of the hill. Cap- 
tain Meigs visited the commander in his dugout and put up such a strenuous 
plea that he was allowed to continue the work until the fog lifted. 

When the attack started, and the Germans were driven back, the 
Corps decided to move its advance P. C. to Chehery. The Chateau had 
been occupied by the 80th Division which was moving to Fleville — coded 
"Fleabite" by that old friend of the 406th, Major Kelly, who had been made 
Lieutenant Colonel and was the Signal Officer of the Division. Lieutenant 
Hasskarl arrived at Chehery in the afternoon to put up the switchboards and 
install the wiring. The 80th Division switchboard had been located in a well 
reinforced corner of the basement. But since the enemy was being pushed 
toward the north, it was decided to place the Corps switchboard and telegraph 
offices in more comfortable quarters on the first floor. The wiring was com- 
pleted that night much to the satisfaction of General Dickman, Commander 
of the First Army Corps, who had succeeded General Liggett. The latter was 
now in command of the 1st Army. 




Chapter XXIII 



rr 



Kamerad! 



N 



'OW that the Corps had moved its advance P. C. to Chatel Chehery, 
the Battalion sought quarters in the neighborhood. Captain Meigs 
had reserved a few dugouts near the town where the construction 
sections from both Companies were temporarily quartered. But Battalion 
headquarters, Company offices, shops, mess and supply detachments re- 
mained at Locheres, twenty kilometers to the rear. No transportation was 
available to move them forward, for nearly all of the Battalion trucks were 
engaged in hauling wire to the divisions. There was also a detail maintain- 
ing the office at Rarecourt, fifteen kilometers further to the south. 

On the morning of November 2nd when the attack was renewed Colonel 
Voris with Colonel Behn decided personally to investigate the signal facilities 
at St. Juvin. They estimated that the infantry would complete the occupa- 
tion of Champigneulles in about two hours. The Signal officers were surprised 
to find very few soldiers around St. Juvin and almost no sign of life in the valley 
between this town and Champigneulles. Later they learned that the infantry 
had fallen behind schedule, and when they were wandering around the hill 
below St. Juvin this slope was in advance of the American troops. 

Another man who prowled around St. Juvin somewhat prematurely was 
Giles. He had been detailed, by request of the sergeant in charge of the Corps 



KAMERAD! 



229 



pigeons, to assist in delivering birds to the divisions. Giles mounted his 
motorcycle and started with the sergeant and a load of pigeons to St. Juvin. 
The road was under heavy bombardment, American and German dead lying 
everywhere. Ambulances were not allowed on the road, but because Giles 
displayed the Signal Corps flags on his motorcycle and was carrying pigeons, 
the guards permitted him to pass. Just beyond St. Juvin, machine guns were 
sweeping the road. It was impossible to proceed farther. He turned back 
into the town and there found the officer to whom the birds were consigned. 
After hours of driving along roads torn with shells, and under constant fire he 
made his way back to the Battalion. 

Grandpre was bitterly contested by the Germans, who made a desperate 
stand on the high ground at the north edge of the town. They were kept so 
busy that they paid little attention to the signal line, and both Companies of 
the 406th rushed the construction in the direction of St. Juvin. 

The hunt for quarters nearer the front eventually brought results. Colonel 
Voris suggested that the 406th take possession of a building which had been a 
German soda water factory. The large stable of this place was floored with 
concrete and the roof seemed to be in good condition. Headquarters was 
established here, and the day was spent in persuading an engineer outfit to 
remove their horses and mules which, being too feeble to go up the line, were 
quartered in the building. During this and other advances many draft 
animals, when they had become entirely exhausted from dragging the heavy 
vehicles over the almost impassable roads, were abandoned to die along the 
roadside. At times the faithful animals recovered and wandered aimlessly 
over the country. One of them made his home with the Battalion at Locheres, 
and was considered the particular property of Shinfessel. When the transfer 
to St. Juvin was ordered Shinfessel was at a loss to know what to do with his 
good old friend. By a stroke of salesmanship he disposed of the animal to 
"Red" Sebring. The latter then had an elephant on his hands until Captain 
Meigs came along and offered two francs for it. Sebring accepted "tout sweet." 
Just as this transaction was completed the outfit to which the horse originally 
belonged returned through Locheres and took it away from Meigs. Shinfessel 
and Sebring kept out of the Captain's sight. 

The Field Battalion installed a switchboard amidst the wreckage of St. 
Juvin, and Meigs and Schmidt continued their efforts with the construction 
sections until they had connected the high line through to this exchange. As 
soon as the circuits were completed, many of them acted queerly. This was 
found to be due to wires attached to the lines by troops between Cornay and 
Marcq. Throughout the afternoon and evening and again the following day, 
the lines were patrolled and the telephones disconnected. 

This long line which had been started at Clermont just before the opening 
of the Argonne offensive ran through to St. Juvin, using Boche materials for a 



: 3 o 



THE FIRST B ATT J LI ON 




large part of the way, 
including poles salvaged 
from the enemy camou- 
flage system. At first 
when the Germans re- 
treated through the 
Argonne they cut down 
their wires and poles to 
prevent the Allies from 
using them. Toward the 
end however, as one of 
the men put it, "the only 
thing they seemed to be 
a Dugout in the Argonne interested in cutting down 

was the record for the hundred yard dash." Months later a battalion com- 
manded by Winston, formerly of the 406th, salvaged the high line. 

By November fourth, the German retreat had turned into a rout and the 
American infantry was being carried forward in trucks in an attempt to main- 
tain contact with the fleeing Boches. Most of the circuits had been cut through 
the exchange at Cotes de Forimont, and Price with his P. C. gang hurried on 
to St. Juvin to await orders. Hardly had he become settled in the soda water 
factory, expecting a brief rest after the long wade through the slow moving 
caravans, when information was received that Corps Headquarters was to 
be moved to Harricourt. Arrangements were at once made to turn over to the 
Army all of the Signal responsibilities in the area south of St. Juvin and plans 
were made to extend the high line north of that town. 

Lieutenant Pearson was still at Locheres awaiting transportation for the 
Battalion affairs. When the trucks arrived, although they had been con- 
tinuously on the road for two days, they were at once loaded and with Major 
Griest in command started north. Splendid time was made on the first part 
of the journey as the main road east of the river was almost free from traffic. 
A brief halt was made at St. Juvin and instructions were left with Magill to 
move on to Harricourt early in the morning and to leave only enough men 
at St. Juvin to care for testing on the high line. 

Lieutenant Price's outfit had arrived at Harricourt early in the evening 
and was shown to a system of warehouses surrounding an old German rail- 
head where Corps Headquarters was to be established. It was too dark to 
do any work that evening and unsafe to have fires or lights so the section 
immediately turned in for a rest. Hannam describes the situation : 



"I did not like the looks of the place; it appeared to me as if it 
might be popular with the bombing squadrons, and the shacks were 



KAMERAD! " 



'-3 1 



not very substantial. Boche planes came over about an hour later by 
the dozens. Frankly, I was never so seared before and would sooner 
go through an artillery barrage any day than to have those birds buz- 
zing over my head, dropping their toys apparently everywhere." 

The main truck train which was speeding along the road from St. Juvin ( 
turned north above Grandpre and soon ran into trouble. Near the crossroad 
leading toward Beffu there was a solid jam, but thinking that this might be 
cleared before long, every one curled up for a nap. At two o'clock in the morn- 
ing the road was still blocked, and leaving the train, Major Griest started 
ahead to investigate. Just south of the crossroad two five-ton trucks had 
slid into the ditches on either side of the road and were most thoroughly stuck. 
Another truck in attempting to pass between the two became tightly wedged. 
There were high banks on either side of the road and it was impossible for 
traffic to pass. For a mile in each direction there was a solid line of vehicles. 
It seemed unlikely that the congestion would be relieved before daylight. 
The Major hiked back through the mud to the waiting trucks to devise a plan 
for reaching Harricourt by another route. 

Very few vehicles had come along behind the Battalion trucks. It was 
possible therefore to back down the hill. This was done and just as the rising 
sun was casting a beautiful glow over the landscape, the Battalion pulled into 
Champigneulle. The road through Verpel had been jammed for three or four 
days and there was no other road for northbound traffic, the one leading 
toward Beffu being reserved for southbound traffic. Nothing could be done 
to hurry the movement and the trucks reached Harricourt two days later. 
The Battalion had received its fill of excitement while the blocked road was 
subjected to bombing and machine gun fire from Boche airplanes. 

The Corps Billeting Officer had furnished Lieutenant Price with a layout, but 
this had to be changed considerably to accord with Colonel Voris' instructions. 
All hands immediately set to work, and temporary circuits were in service by 
the time the Corps officers arrived, although the Field Battalion had not been 
able to complete the circuits from St. Juvin. Harricourt was still occupied by 
divisional and artillery troops and Corps Headquarters was established in the 
warehouses and dispatch stations of the Boche railway terminal. In the yard 




German Heavy Construction in the Argonne 



'■T- 



THE FIRST BATTALION 




: '-: :- : - ; '-, ; ',' - ' 



Views of Harricourt 



practically all of the rail joints had been blown up by the Germans or were 
still mined where the fuses had failed to operate. In the warehouses there re- 
mained great quantities of Boche large calibre shells and myriads of fleas. 

The divisions were now at Authe, Arutruche and St. Pierremont, and as 
fast as details from Signal battalions reached Harricourt, they were set to work- 
piecing out the Boche wire circuits which ran to these towns. Colonel Kelly 
volunteered to provide communication between the Corps and the 8oth 
Division at Sommauthe. In this territory the towns were unharmed and on the 
church steeples the Boche had displayed white flags to prevent further shelling. 
In some of the towns the whole civil population was still established. Every- 
where there were signs of the precipitate retreat of the Germans — guns, wagons 
and equipment of all sorts abandoned in the fields and along the roadsides. 
The enemy continued the rapid retreat and was nearing Sedan and the air was 
rife with rumors of armistice negotiations. Corps Headquarters was in a great 
state of excitement. 

Colonel Voris directed that the Corps axis be continued through St. 
Pierremont and Stonne to Raucourt, a short distance south of Sedan. This 



"KAMERAD! " 



^33 




St. Pierremont 



task seemed more nearly impossible than any which had been assigned to the 
Signal men. Some of the men were still scattered along the roads south of 
Harricourt, and many of the trucks were attempting to complete wire deliveries 
from the Army to divisions. It began to rain and this hindered the collection 
of men. On the morning of the sixth, however, more sections had arrived at 
Harricourt, and Company "E" proceeded to St. Pierremont to repair the open 
wire circuits leading back to Corps Headquarters. To help with this work, 
Coates and Twohig started north from Harricourt. Carrying tools and 
material along the crowded road was a slow and tedious process. There was 
no possible chance of completing the open circuits before night because of the 
many sections between Fontenoy and St. Pierremont which had been entirely 
shot away. Lieutenant Schmidt therefore pieced these circuits out with twist. 
Throughout that rainy night with a few scattered shells hurrying their prog- 
ress, the men of the two Companies plugged along with the work. Coates, 
after finishing the lower section, made his way to St. Pierremont to help 
Schmidt. By two in the morning the connections were completed and the 
tired and dripping men returned to Harricourt. No lights were allowed to aid 
in locating packs and blankets and the workers flopped on the piles of shells 
or on the floor to secure what rest they could. The next morning Lieutenant 
Schmidt was discovered sleeping in a mud puddle under one of the trucks, 
with Hackett on the seat above. Coates gives a picture of that night's work: 



2 34 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



"About a mile from St. Pierremont we became stuck in the jam 
in the traffic and it was after twelve o'clock when we arrived at St. 
Pierremont. We went up the road and found a ration truck and 
cribbed several loaves of bread and cans of beans and heated them on 
the motor of the truck. We had to take the circuit back to Fontenoy 
and the only way to get there was to walk. We left Sergeant Vick 
and the chauffeur to take care of the truck and the rest of us pulled 
the reels up hill and down and the Lieutenant who was leading didn't 
know when to rest. We passed truck load after truck load of refugees 
who spoke a language all their own. I believe it was Flemish. They 
came from Sedan and had been captives for about four years." 

The returns from the front indicated that four open-wire circuits would 
be needed to St. Pierremont immediately. The weary Schmidt was roused 
from his puddle and once more he collected his tired crew and headed north 
by way of Sommauthe. To insure the completion of these circuits before 
dark, the Major collected all of the men of "D" Company who had then 
arrived at Harricourt, to tackle the lower end of the new circuit, leaving Meigs 
who had just come in from St. Juvin, to organize the camp. 

The lower end of the open circuits was quickly completed, but to reach 
Fontenoy where the work was to be resumed, required a long trip by way of 
Sommauthe and St. Pierremont, with every possibility of encountering hope- 
less jams on the road, or of carrying the tools and material up a long hill and 

down from the main road to Fontenoy. 
The men of the 406th were willing 
workers but they were almost com- 
pletely exhausted by their efforts of 
the preceding days. Major Griest 
interviewed the captain who was in 
charge of the traffic on the roads to 
try to persuade him to open to the 
signal trucks the one-way road to 
Fontenoy. The Captain considered 
the situation for a moment, looked 
over the trucks which he was assured 
were all in good condition, and after 
the Major agreed that should south- 
bound traffic be encountered he would, 
if necessary, ditch the trucks and carry 
the material from that point, the cap- 
tain gave his consent and piloted the 
truck train up the road. 

This was unexpected good fortune 
Major Rexford m. Giaspey and at Fontenoy the men set to work 




KJMERAD! " 



235 




Major Glaspey's Citation 

with such vigor that in two hours they reached Lieutenant Schmidt's men 
working from the north. Schmidt had succeeded in reaching St. Pierremont, 
but he too had struck disheartening conditions. Poles which had been in 
place on the line the night before and to which the circuits of twist were 
attached had been cut down to repair the almost obliterated road. This made 
it necessary to cut poles from German lines and drag them into place. The four 
circuits were completed at five o'clock. But the extension leading to Stonne 
which was being built by the Field Battalion was not yet finished as the trucks 
carrying the material had been stalled throughout the day south of Oches. 



That night Colonel Behn came up from Army Headquarters with sad 
news. Major Glaspey had been ill at the hospital in Toul, but because of 
his conscientious conception of the work for which he was responsible, he 
had insisted on leaving the hospital before he had fully recovered. As a 
result he contracted pneumonia and died at Base Hospital No. 51 on the 
fifth of November. Colonel Behn had become acquainted with Glaspey while 
at General Headquarters and had become very much attached to him. In 
fact every one had liked the young officer. There was not a man in the 
Battalion but that felt deeply his death. 



^ 















Chapter XXIV 



The Armistice 



THERE were persistent rumors of armistice negotiations, but there was 
nothing in the way of official news. For the most part, there was little 
excitement over the reports. One night some of the men were enjoy- 
ing a game of "stud" in a light-proof shack — it must have been pay day. There 
was a goodly sized "pot" and one of the fellows was just about to bet. A bang 
on the door and an ex-dispatch rider of the Battalion burst into the room. 
"The war is over!" he yelled. The man whose turn it was to bet, started to 
jump up from his seat. Jerry Hamilton grabbed him by the shoulder and 
unceremoniously planked him down. 

"What's the matter with you? What if the war is over? Has that got 
anything to do with winning this pot?" 

While the Field Battalion continued its effort to carry the circuits to Sedan 
the 406th set to work repairing the heavy lateral leads which the Germans 
had abandoned along the Germont-Harricourt-Buzancy road. 

On the morning of the ninth startling news was received — the First Corps 
was to be relieved for a rest ! The troops of the Fifth Corps immediately took 
over all of its responsibilities. There was a feeling that the end was very close 



THE ARMISTICE 



and the men of the Battalion were none too well pleased to be compelled thus 
to quit just when the finish of the job was in sight. But orders are orders and 
that day the men of the 406th scattered over the country side examining the 
places in which the fighting had been most intense and where the German re- 
treat has been most rapid. Hundreds of souvenirs were collected, some of 
which eventually found their way to friends back home. Late in the day 
Lieutenant Hasskarl set off for Chehery with his P. C. section to prepare 
temporary quarters for the Corps, while Pearson was dispatched with Urffer 
to hunt up Jeff Adams who with his truck was still somewhere in the region to 
the north. Urffer tells of this effort: 

"A detail made up of Jeff Adams of 'E' Company and Whitlock, 
Fullerton and Althouse of 'D' had been sent out with orders to 
establish a supply dump at Stonne, a town situated about eighteen 
kilometers north of Buzancy. All except Jeff Adams unloaded and 
returned to the outfit in a couple of days. Jeff, however, was ordered 
to take his truck load of wire to a point beyond Raucourt and in 
doing this he encountered difficulties of the worst kind. The traffic 
was heavy and the road bad. Beyond Chehery he was mired and 
unable to move for about seventy-two hours. 

"Lieutenant Pearson and I were out on a hunt for Jeff, and on 
November twelfth we met him tramping along the road from Grand- 
pre to Buzancy, thirty-five kilometers from the point where his 
truck was stuck in the mud. He had traveled thirty -five kilometers, 
much of the distance on foot with an occasional ride on a passing 
vehicle. We picked him up and headed for the truck. After we gave 
him something to eat, 'the man from Kaintuck' became more soci- 
able. We reached the truck and found four loads of wounded men 
ahead of it. We came across an engineer outfit which had a Holt 
tractor and after two hours of strenuous digging and lugging we were 
on our way home." 

The weather had become very cold. On the morning of the tenth, tools 
and supplies were chopped out of the frozen mud, loaded on the trucks and 
the Battalion was on its way to the south. Early in the afternoon Pleinchamp 
Farm was reached where Hasskarl had managed to preempt sufficient space 
to house the outfit. Mess was established and it did not take the men long 
to make themselves at home in the stables. Three new officers, Lieutenants 
Wright, Lee and Green, waited here to report for duty. It seemed the per- 
versity of fate to finish the long and extremely active campaign without a full 
complement of officers and for replacements to arrive when the Battalion 
had started into a rest area. 

That evening there was the customary meeting with Colonel Voris, and 
while the officers were talking over the possibilities of the situation a lieutenant 
from the Intelligence Section of the General Staff rushed into the office wav- 
ing a paper and shouting, "The Armistice has been signed." The Signal 



HLATvT/jALTTIU FIRST AKT CORPS 

llov. 10, 1916. 

Fromi Chief of Staff, 1st Army Corps, U. S. 

t To: Chief Signal Officer, 1st Corps, U. S. 

Subjectt Recognition of services of signal personnel, 

1. The Corps Commander desires the persitanel of the Signal 'battalions 
under your control to be informed, and this information is to include truckmen, 
linemen, telephone e^chan^c^en, radio-,. .en and all others v/ho are under your 
control, of his full appreciation of their services and their devotion to the 
interests of the servioe. 

2. Ha desires them Informed and that they understand that each nan has 
contributed in no uncertain way to the sucoess of the 1st Corps and its 
elements and tliat without their devotion to duty, the results obtained could 
not have been possible. 

3. Inci leu tall v, this expression of appreciation includes the Chief 
Signal Officer hi-selx and those of his office foreo associated with him. 

LiiTcrLhc*"'^ ^f 

Chief of Staff j 

1st Ind. 

0. Sig. 0», 1st Army Corps, American Expeditionary Forces, 11 November, 1918: 
To each and every member of the 322nd Field Battalion and 406th Telegraph 
Battalion, Signal Corps, 

1. It is with the greatest pleasure that the undersigned transmits to 
you the letter of appreciation of i:ajor General J. T. Dicknan, the Corps 
Commander, and of Brigadier General ralin Craig, Chief of Staff of the Corps, 
for the wonderful work accomplished by the Corps Signal troops throughout tho 
activities of the i'irst American Corps. 

2. No other American Corps has been oalled upon, nor had the opportunity 
to equal the achievements of the first Corps during the present \ar. its 
activities have included the advance of July and August from Chateau Thierry to 
the Vesle, the reduction of the St. Hihiel salient in September, and the capturo 
of the Argonne Forest, followed by the advance to the outskirts of Sedan in 
October and Iloverabor. 

3. That tho mission of the Corps Signal troops was woll done is evidenced 
by the above letter. The details of tho masterful manner in which hardships and 
difficulties were overcome in tho performance of ;his duty are known and apprec- 
iated to the fullest extent. The crucknen hauling supplios over well nigh im- 
passable roads; the line.nen and t;*ouole.aer. extending and maintaining telephone 
lines in the rain- end cold and often iu:der she? If ire; t io telephone, telegraph 
and radio detachments malting inr.iL.icrable ins ta?]azio'is in leaky attics or musty 
caves, and all wording both day a \<x night, result jd in a completed system which 
would be a credit to many civil plants. 

4. '7e are now officially informed that an ar.istioe between our Allies 
and the enemy has been signed, and that hostilities cease today. We must not 
be unmindful that the work which has thus far been so successfully accomp- 
lished is not yet complete. You may expeot that the worst service is before 
you, V/ithout the excitement of aotive operations, will more than ever come to 
your minds visions of home, the companionship of those dear to you, and the 
loss of the opportunities of oivil life. A huge task is yet to be accomplished 
by tho American soldier, and in the great confidence of your past success, wo 
look forward toward the final completion of this great undertaking, so that when 
it is over, you may say as in ,the past,- "WEI PUT IT OVER FOR OLD BSNEHEAD" , 

B / '/\i-^. \ Colonel, Signal Oorpa. 



1 


/^ 




< 


> 




• 


• 


_..«> 



A LETTER OF COMMENDATION 
238 



THE ARMISTICE 



*-39 



Office was emptied as if by magic. The officers hurried to the telegraph key 
in the adjoining room to wire Army headquarters for information. The reply 
came back that there was a very persistent report that the Armistice had been 
signed but that official confirmation had not been received. The French con- 
sidered the report authentic and immediately throughout the chateau every one 
burst into an uproar. Up in one of the corridors of the second story, there 
was an old piano which had survived the Boche occupation. This instru- 
ment was quickly surrounded by a group of French and Americans and in the 
dim light of a few candles, which some one had been bold enough to light 




Pleinchamp Farm 



regardless of possible visits from the German bombers, the Frenchmen started 
to play the "Marseillaise." All joined exultantly in this triumphant song, 
and when it was finished the French joined the Americans in singing the 
American National Anthem. 

The news had spread to the Battalion quarters in the nearby stable. The 
men of Company "E" were in the loft and Company "D" was immediately 
underneath. During the souvenir gathering, many of the men had acquired 
Boche pistols and ammunition. These were brought into play and a racket 
burst forth which resembled a dozen machine guns all in action at the same 
time. The roof was shot full of holes and bore the brunt of the Company "E" 
attack. Luckily for the Pittsburgh crowd however, the men of "D" did not 
shoot upwards, but peppered the walls and windows. 

While the uproar was at its height the Corps Provost Marshall advanced 
on the barracks. But his approach was detected and when he entered the 
building all was quiet. He called for the noncom in charge. He received no 



240 THE FIRST BATTALION 

response. Every one was industriously snoring. He stumbled over arms and 
legs and bodies in the darkness. He finally departed cussing the whole outfit 
and very much to the relief of the men, Favinger and Koser particularly. 

The singing in the chateau and the "fireworks" was the entire celebration 
for the troops marooned in the small village which the fighting of the past two 
months had almost annihilated. The nearest cafe was several hours journey 
to the rear, and in the rush forward all materials which might be used to help 
celebrate such an occasion as this had long since been consumed. 

The members of the Corps had been working at top speed and under the 
greatest strain from the time they entered the St. Mihiel sector in September. 
By the time the effort in the direction of Sedan was suspended the men of the 
406th were thoroughly exhausted from keeping the divisions supplied with 
signal material and from maintaining telephone service for the Corps. They 
were almost stunned. "Numbed and dumbed," was the expression of one of 
them. Thoughts turned now toward home. It was the first time since the 
arrival in France that there was something tangible on which to base hopes of 
returning to the States. 

On the morning of the eleventh the report of the Armistice was confirmed 
and the Corps received instructions from the Army that all hostilities would 
cease at eleven o'clock. Throughout the night of the tenth and the morning 
of the eleventh, the distant rumble of the artillery could be heard. The Allies 
were on their guard against a last minute trick on the part of the Boches. 

The fighting was over. Gas masks and helmets would soon fall into the 
discard or be hung on pegs from which they need be removed only for inspec- 
tion. No longer would the roads be blocked with artillery and ammunition 
and ambulances. Work there was to be done, but what, or where, or when, 
or how much nobody knew nor cared. As "Cal" Miller put it, "Things won't 
be so bad now that the 'armature' is signed." 




Chapter XXV 



"When Do We Go Homer 




^FTER the cessation of hostilities, plans were made for forming the army 
which, according to the terms of the Armistice, was to occupy the terri- 
tory around Coblenz. It was at first contemplated that the First 
Army Corps was to have the honor of leading the entry into Germany. It 
had been in the greatest number of drives and had made the greatest advances. 
However, the First Corps was on the extreme left of the American front and 
transportation facilities in the devastated area were poor. The motor vehicles, 
on account of the constant and wearing use which they had been given, were 
not in shape to transport the Corps troops. It was decided therefore to take 
the Staff officers from the First Army Corps to form the nucleus of the new 
3rd Army Headquarters. The remaining troops were to be drawn from units 
which could more readily be delivered to the Rhine. 

Colonel Voris pleaded long to be allowed to take the 406th Battalion with 
him into Germany, even going so far as to offer to operate with it alone and 
forego the additional telegraph battalion and the field battalion allowed to 
an Army. The Chief Signal Officer decreed that, in view of its long and active 
service, the 406th was to be one of the first battalions designated for return 
to the United States. The Battalion therefore bid goodbye to the officers of 
the First Corps, who started toward Dun-sur-Meuse to join the Army of 
Occupation. 



241 



242 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



For another week the Battalion remained in the vicinity of Chehery, and 
the men roamed over the fields on which not more than a month before there 
had been bitter fighting. Over fifty miles of twisted pair, which had been 
strung along the roads by the divisions during their advance, were salvaged 
during this period. When the wire had been delivered at Parois, the Corps 
troops departed for Tonnerre. Once more and for the last time, Price and 
Cowan, with their P. C. detail, set off in advance of the main body to establish 
the telephone exchange. On the twenty-second of November, the Battalion 
took up its quarters in the Moulin d'Enfer on the outskirts of Tonnerre, the 
men confidently anticipating Christmas at home. 

Thanksgiving Day was decreed a holiday in the army and many of the 




Some Views of Tonnerre 



"WHEN DO WE GO HOME?" 243 

American soldiers attended a "Te Deum" sung in Notre Dame — an old church 
erected in the sixteenth century. But to a healthy crowd of men, dinner is the 
big thing on Thanksgiving. On account of the recent move, the Quarter- 
master was unable to provide extra food for the holiday. 

The mess fund however had weathered fifteen months of foreign service 
and was still in fair shape. Thevelin was dispatched with a detail to comb the 
countryside for turkeys and chickens. In the preceding months there had 
been few meals which were worthy of the name. The hustle and bustle and 
confusion had made regular mess impossible. At the Thanksgiving dinner 
every man sat down comfortably and enjoyed himself in a civilized manner. 
Tables were arranged on a large open balcony at one end of the mill. But 
French weather is fickle. Just as all were seated and the attack on the turkey 
and sweet potatoes commenced, the threatening skies let fall a torrent of rain. 
It takes more than a shower to dampen the enthusiasm of a gang of hungry 
men. They stuck to the finish, the final sortie disposing of the mince pies 
over which Pemberton had labored diligently, and from the comments, suc- 
cessfully. 

Pemberton and "Bill" Dailey were assigned the task of building a cook 
stove in the kitchen. Cement and bricks were necessary. They went to a 
stone mason. He asked a price about four times as high as "Pern" and Bill 
felt they should pay. They refused to buy. It was the only place in the town 
where the materials could be secured. After dark they took a light truck and 
drove up to the mason's shop. It was just across the street from the Y. M. C. 
A. A big show was being given there and the whole street was as bright as 
day from the lights in the building. Pern made up his mind that the stove 
was going to be built. He slipped into the "Y" and short circuited the light- 
ing wires. This blew the fuses and put out all the lights. Huss of the Bat- 
talion was electrician at the "Y" and he put in new fuses. They blew out. 
He started on a hunt for the "short" but Pern had done his work well. 

Meantime in the darkness across the street Pern climbed the fence and 
threw a bag of cement over to Bill. Bill failed to catch it, and it fell on the 
ground and burst. Pern did not know this and he tossed another over. The 
second one caught Bill on the back of the head, and buried his face in the loose 
cement on the ground. He sputtered, but dodged the third one. The cement 
and about a hundred bricks were loaded on the truck. Then Pemberton 
went over to the "Y" where five hundred soldiers were raving in the darkness. 
He removed the "short" and the show went on. The stove was built and later 
settlement was made for the "purchased" materials. 

Captain Gauss had accompanied the Corps to Tonnerre with his old 
friends in the Battalion. At Colonel Voris' request he was now assigned 
to the 3rd Army and sent to Coblenz. He was made Superintendent of 
Telegraph and Telephone Service for the 3rd Army, and handled the trans- 



-44 



THE FIRST B ATT A LI ON 



HEADQUARTERS FIRST ARMY CORPS 
AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES 



15. February 1919. 



GENERAL ORDERS. 
HO. i 



ferring and building up of existing German circuits for the Army of Occupa- 
tion. This work gave him an opportunity to study German construction and 
necessitated frequent visits to Berlin. He was promoted to Major and made 
himself so valuable to the Signal Office at Coblenz that he was not released 
for return to the United States until the following September. 

Life at Tonnerre 
quickly became organ- 
ized. In many respects 
it was the hardest part of 
the overseas service. En- 
tertainments and athletic 
events helped to pass the 
time. 

Captain Macfarlan 
(who had been promoted 
from lieutenant during 
the Argonne fight) with 
the help of Jerry Hamilton 
staged a very creditable 
minstrel show in the Y. 
M. C. A. As a result of 
this show, Macfarlan was 
taken by the Corps Adju- 
tant as an assistant direc- 
tor of athletics and enter- 
tainments, and he entered 
actively into scheduling 
football and basketball 
games and boxing 
matches throughout the 
Corps Area. 

Men of the 406th had 
been working in the Corps 
Telephone and Telegraph 
office since the arrival at 
Tonnerre. Early in De- 
cember troops from the 1st Army replaced them. This made rumors of an 
early departure for America even more persistent. "When do we go home?" 
was heard even more frequently than "Come seven," or "Little Joe," or 
"Big Dick," or "Phoebe." 

Football teams were formed in the divisions and a team was selected to 
represent theCorps troops — Miller, Haislop, Rauenswinder, Lord and Thompson 



t. 1. In compliance with Special Ordors .Ho. £6. Head- 
quarters First Army, dated 9 Fobruary 1919, the 406th Telegraph 
Battalion standB relieved from thlB Corps. 

S. Tho 406th Telegraph Battalion landed in France on 
August 20th, 1917, as the 1st Tolograph Battalion. Signal Reserve 
corps; its designation being changed in October to the 406th 
Telegraph Battalion. It was one of the two first complete 
American Signal units to arrivo in Frcnce. After a fall and 
winter of work in installing and maintaining telephone offices 
and lines in the Chaumont - Neufohnteru - Toul region, tile Batta- 
lion was assigned to the 1st Army Corps on February 17th. 1916. 
being the first unit of Corps Troops, after the Headquarters 
Troop, assigned to the Corps. 

a. During the spring of 1916 the Battalion continued 
to maintain and operate lines in the region of Neufohcteau-and 
up. to tho Toul sector. r 3 well as working in that and the 
Baccarat sectors. 

4. Moving with the 1st Corps in June, 1918, to La- 
Ferte-sous-Jouarre, the Battalion installed, operated' and main- 
tained telegraph and telephone services for the 1st Army Corps 
at its many hecdou-rters curing the. -dvxoe from tho Maxne to 
the Voslc; in tho St. Mihlel attack, and in the Battle of the 
Argonne and the advance to the Heuse, from the beginning of 
that attack to the cessation of hostilities, and subsequently 

at the Corps Headquarters at Tonnerre, This work was frequently 
done under the most adverse conditions, and often ex-posod to 
enemy shell fire. Its service under bottle conditions was 
practically continuous from the beginning of the attack north- 
west of Chateau- Thierry on July 18, 1918, until the signing of 
the armistice ,on November 11, 1918, including in that perio-* 
the installation, often on the shortest notice, and maintaiannoe 
of >vire communications at thirteen different Headquarters of 
this Corps, 

5. Its work has been excellent; a record of a hard 
task well done, without complaining, without any need of the 
slightest disciplinary action; and the part it has played in 
keeping the Corps Staff in touch with its troops has been of 
primary importance in all the Corps Operations. 

6. The Corps Commander takes this occasion to 
express his waro apprecietion of the services of the 406th 
Telegraph Battalion as a part of the 1st Corps and wishes it 
God Speed In the return to the United States which it ha* so 
well earned. 

By command of Major Coneral Wright; 

W. 1.1. FASSETT, 
Chief of Staff. 



H. H. NELLY, 
Lieut. Colonel, 
adjutant. 



11 HEN DO WE GO HOME? 



2 45 



Addic. ■ tttply io 

CHIEF SIGNAL OFFICER, S. O. 9. 
Amtrltin ttpcdillsnirj Force* 



AMEEICAN ESPEDITIONABY FOEOES 
HEADQUAETEES SEEVICES OF SOPPLT 

Office of the Chief Signal Officer 



February 24, 1919 



FROM: Chief Signal Officer, i.E.P 

TO: 



Commanding Officer, 406th Telegraph Battalion (Thru C.S.O. 5th Corps,) 

Tonner e- Yo:ina . 

SUBJECT: Review of history of 406th Telegraph Battalion. 

1. I have just received a copy of General Orders Ho. 8, Headquarters 
First Army Corps, February 15, in which the Commanding General of that Corps 
briefly reviews the history of the 406th Telegraph Battalion, and takes occasion 
on y^ur relief from the Corps to commend the work of the Battalion in the warnest 

terms. 

2. There is no conmendation which is more desirable than that which comes 
from those with whom officers and organizations served. The history of the 
406th Telegraph Battalion is so interwoven with that of the tremendous and 
successful work of the Signal Corpe in France that it particularly deserves 
notice. 

3. Tour Battalion was one of the two that arrived first, and has uorne 
the burden of the enormous telegraph construction work which has been the firm 
basis for our successful communications throughout France. 

4. From construction work in the S.0.5. your Battalion has gone to duty 
with the First Army Corps and taken a glorious part in all of the hard fighting 
in which that Corps has been engaged. 

5. It is a matter of pride with me to have such an organization serving 
with the Signal Corps, and I feel that the officers and men of your Battalion 
may return to the United States with the approval of your own consciences, and 
heartily deserving the well earned plaudits which I am sure your fellow citizens 
will accord to you. 



being chosen on the latter. On account of the comparatively small number of 
men in the Corps troops, it could not successfully compete with teams chosen 
from the thousands of men available in the divisions. Consequently, it was 
eliminated when it was decisively beaten by the 8oth Division. 

In basketball and boxing, the 406th fared much better. Magill organized a 

basketball team 
on which were H. 
M. King, Hutch- 
inson, Poole, Sey- 
mour, Guenther 
and Marr. The 
basketball games 
were scheduled for 
Sunday after- 
noons in the town 
market-house. 
Here the cement 
floor gave an op- 
portunity for fast 
play and the 
games were en- 
joyed by crowds 
from the French 
populace quite as 
much as by the 
enthusiastic spec- 
tators from the 
Corps troops. 
Magill's team won 
every game in 
which it com- 
peted. 

According to 
the regulations 
each soldier was 
entitled to a seven - 




EUSSEL 
Brigadier General 
C.S.O. 



day leave every four months. In the sixteen months of foreign service the 
men of the Battalion had had practically none. At Tonnerre permission was 
obtained for ten per cent and later for twenty per cent of the Battalion to go at 
one time. The first men were assigned to Aix-les-Bains. They were given a 
round of entertainment, both in the Casino and in side trips, and they came 
back to the Battalion after their seven-day stay anxious to try it again. 



246 THE FIRST BATTALION 

Before long the Battalion leave allotments included permission to go to the 
Riviera. Monte Carlo was given the "once over" by those who visited this 
area, and Italy was so close at hand that few missed the opportunity to set 
foot for a moment at least, on her soil. Dobbie received permission to visit 
Scotland; Burnett, Conway and Magill reached Ireland; and Alfieri held a 
reunion with his family in Italy. The leave orders constantly became more 
liberal and by the latter part of December, three-day leaves for Paris had 
been authorized. At times more than half of the 406th was on leave at 
one time. 

The air of impatience in the Battalion as Christmas time approached can 
better be imagined than described. Day after day passed and still no orders 
came. Home seemed as far away as it had a year ago. It must be confessed 
that at first there was not a great amount of enthusiasm in the preparation 
for the second Christmas in France. But as the holiday season came nearer 
and it was realized that there would be no chance to shed the old khaki, nor to 
put feet under the dining room table at home while sinking teeth into the drum- 
stick of a regular, home-grown, fat and juicy gobbler, a little more interest was 
taken. When the day before Christmas arrived there was considerable 
activity around the barracks. 

The mess fund still survived but just for luck a request was made to General 
Headquarters for a cash allowance for Christmas dinner. Not a chance ! So 
the strong boxes were dipped into once more. Thevelin, who continued with 
his friends in the 406th until January when his class was demobilized, and 
Vance scoured the country side. They came back with a truck load of turkeys 
and green vegetables. Christmas Eve was spent by the noncoms with the 
mess organization in preparing for the feast. Throughout the active cam- 
paigns, the company messes had been combined and run as a battalion mess. 
At Tonnerre, however, the messes were separated and each Company provided 
for its Christmas spread in accordance with its own ideas. This year the 
regulations forbade the sending of large packages to the men in France but 
bundles of Christmas cards and letters from friends in the Telephone Company 
were eagerly devoured. 

During the morning, the village bakery was the scene of great activity. 
Previous efforts at roasting turkeys on the United States Army field range had 
not been a howling success, and Pemberton and Vance for this occasion ar- 
ranged with the baker for the use of his ovens. "D" Company decided to 
remain in its mess quarters in a stable near the barracks, but Company "E" 
rented a cafe, which Vance decorated with evergreen in true holiday fashion. 
The Battalion officers were invited to attend "E" Company's dinner, which 
was complete from soup to nuts. There were four hours of eating and jollity, 
during which belts were loosened hole by hole. If anyone left the table with- 
out a feeling of fullness, it was his own fault. 



"WHEN DO WE GO HOME?" 247 

The men appreciated that the success of their dinner was due in large 
measure to the generosity of the Telephone people back home. Urffer wrote 
a letter describing "D" Company's meal. It gives a good idea of the prepara- 
tions for the celebrations in both Companies : 

"Last year our Uncle Samuel handed out turkey, calling it an 
'issue.' This year the scrap was over and the boys had nothing to do 
but sit tight, so this was dispensed with, and the signs of the time all 
read pas encore, meaning 'nix.' 

"Our officers and mess sergeant got together and decided the 
only thing to do was to draw on that Fund which was made up by the 
folks back home before we left. 

"Therefore, from now on my letter must be built on that part of 
the fund which we used, and while it may not yet be evident, I am 
trying to convey to you folks the fact that we are as thankful as men 
can be for your thoughtfulness in providing for a Christmas dinner 
almost two years in advance. 

"With the funds on hand the only remaining trouble was to get 
the turkeys. Our mess sergeant and M. Thevelin set out in the 
'boss's' Dodge. After four long days of chasing to and fro over the 
landscape they collided with a regiment of healthy turkeys and with 
the help of the 'circulating medium' taken from the fund, the detail 
managed to extract a goodly number of turks from their French 
owners. That is how the turkeys came about. 

"The bewildered turks being on hand, provision had to be made 
for the extras. Uncle Samuel handed us potatoes which were not 
of the canned type. Beyond the fact that potatoes are necessary in 
most kitchens, I have no idea how far this helped the works. I 
know though, that outside of this one item Uncle Sam did not worry 
about Christmas dinner for the tough old 406th, so we must give all 
credit to you folks and to Sergeant Pemberton's tact and 'rustling' 
qualities, for what we had besides potatoes. Hurrahs and yells 
should be kicked over in the general direction of Bill Daily, George 
Hoffman and Howard Bolt, who did the cooking. Of course those 
good natured, affable K. P.'s can horn in for some of the yells. 

"We are now ready to move to the mess hall which was a very 
good ex-wagon shed, ex-Y. M. C. A. warehouse, and is now a mighty 
fine mess hall. The process of moving the 'Y' people out and the 
406th in was so tactfully handled by Sergeant Pemberton that we 
found ourselves a few smokes to the good, and the mess sergeant 
was able to buy a lot of candy and smokes kind of 'easy like.' 

"The 'chow' call started us on the eats. First on the menu was 
celery soup. Celery was only a camouflage title for something 
mighty fine — much better than plain celery soup ever could be. 

"From the soup position we advanced in open order on the turkey, 
of which there was beaucoup (French for 'more than enough'). We 
took all our objectives, namely, turkey, filling, mashed potatoes, 
dressing and real raisin pie. 

"During the above mentioned process we had speeches by the 



248 THE FIRST BATTALION 

officers, the first on the list being Captain Meigs, who extended his 
good wishes and those of the Major, who could not be present. The 
Captain reminded us of the shocked faces of last year when we were 
told we were due for another Christmas in France. He said it would 
be foolish to bet a cock-eyed nickel on a third Christmas over here. 
He topped his talk with a pair of Perfectos for every one of us. One 
of these Perfectos is good for a yell from any man and here were two 
for each one of a hundred men ! Draw your own conclusions. It's 
enough when I say that the rafters shook. 

"About this time we were working on the apples, nuts and candy, 
so Captain Meigs called attention to our faithful ration jugglers, 
otherwise known to the civilized world as cooks and K. P.'s. The 
Captain, I am sure, had no inkling of the K. P.'s pre-dinner activities, 
but anyhow the R. J.'s got a glorious gang of cheers. 

"I hope you folks realize that we had a real time and that each 
and every one of us enjoyed this Christmas. We all know that the 
main reason for any soldier's enjoying any event is good things to eat, 
and as we got these things directly through you, we wish to thank 
you all sincerely and heartily, for out of a rather dreary outlook you 
enabled us to gather and make a Christmas party which none of us will 
ever forget." 

So successful were the Christmas dinners that both of the Companies 
decided to have another special spread on New Year's day. There seemed to 
be no bottom to the box containing the company funds. This time "D" 
Company made extensive arrangements, and for the occasion procured a whole 
pig, which was roasted in the oven at the bakery. It was the piece de resistance 
of a most elaborate meal which started with rabbit soup and ended only when 
each of the diners was stuffed to capacity. 

Life at Tonnerre developed into a round of instructions and inspections 
during the daytime and dances and entertainments at night. Schools had 
been started in the First Army Corps and studies ranged from improvement 
in reading and spelling to courses in international law. Attending the classes 
were more men from the 406th than from all of the other Corps units combined. 
Cowan and Tomlinson were permanently detailed to the instruction force. 

The signal equipment of the Battalion was overhauled and turned in little 
by little, although Colonel Higgins who was Corps Signal Officer was not 
anxious to release it. He felt that there might be some further use for the 
splendid equipment although at the time the 406th was doing almost no signal 
work. Part of the motor equipment was transferred to divisions. The old 
three-ton British trucks which had done such faithful service were sent to 
Dijon for general overhauling because the equipment of the Battalion and 
Corps motor shops was inadequate to do the work. Lieutenant Hasskarl 
piloted the trucks to Dijon. While he was negotiating for their repair, an 
officer asked who had brought "that bunch of junk" into the yards. Hass- 



WHEN DO WE GO HOME? 



-49 



Bird's-eye View of the Show 




The Four 
Prize Winners 



Examining Gruninger's Grand 
Prize Winner 



THE HORSE AND MOTOR SHOW 

karl's explanation did not satisfy him. He called for a Liberty truck and 
shoved the faithful old friends one by one off the road into a salvage dump in 
the field. 

By order of General Headquarters, the different Corps in the A. E. F. 
organized horse and motor shows. Exhibitions were first held in the Divisions 
and among Corps troops, the winners in these smaller shows to form the entries 
in the exhibitions for larger units. The 406th still possessed four types of 
vehicles — cargo trucks, motorcycles, light passenger cars and light delivery 
cars. The best vehicle in each of these classes received a careful overhauling 
by the Battalion shop crews. When the preliminaries were held, the four 
vehicles entered by the 406th were selected to represent the Corps in the 
respective classes. 

Early in February the Corps Commander appointed Colonel Bolles as 
Chairman of the Committee in charge of the Motor Show for the First Corps. 
The Colonel called 406th Battalion Headquarters and said that in the com- 
mittee which he was forming he must have men who could put the show across. 



i;o 



THE FIRST BATTALION 




Doyle and Gruninger with the Prize Packard 



uffioe of the i. . T. u. 
HEADQUARTERS FlRST ARMY CORK'S 
Amerioan E* F. 



Of prime importance was the supply 
officer, who must be a man who could 
collect anything that was necessary, 
whether it was available or not and 
who could in a pinch make a harness 
from a piece of wire off a bale of hay. 
The Colonel thought that the only 
man in the Corps who would meas- 
ure up to these requirements was, as 
he called him, "Go-get-her" Meigs. 
At the time of the Colonel's request, 
Meigs who had been fighting a very bad cold had submitted to Medical Officer 
Macfarlan and had gone to bed, but he pulled himself together and for the 
next few days in the rain and mud, supplies were corralled from all parts of 
the territory. Arrangements were made, with the help of the Corps Engi- 
neer troop and the entire Telegraph Battalion, to care for the quarters and 
feeding of 700 men and 200 horses at the show. On the evening of the eighth 
the weather cleared off 
and became very cold and 
the temperature remained 
just below the freezing 
point. 

In the motor section 
of the show, the four ve- 
hicles entered by the 406th 
— Headquarters' Dodge, 
Gruninger's Packard 
truck, Geib's motorcycle 
and Giles' Ford delivery 
car — captured the blue 
ribbons. The Corps Com- 
mander, Major- General 
Wright, paid a high com- 
pliment to the motor men 
of the Battalion when he 
declared that, had it not 
been for the 406th the 
Corps troops would have 
been "out in the cold." 

To cap the climax, 
when all of the prize win- 
ners were lined up on the 



Jabruary 9, 1919. 
PROM: M. T. u. 

TO: C. ix. 406 Telegraph Battalion. 

SUBJECT: Motor Transportation. 

1. The commanding General of the First Army Corps 
desires that I express to you his appreciation for the 
showing made by the motor transportation of the 406 Tele- 
graph Battalion at the Horse and transportation show, 1st 
Army Corps. Tonnerre, February 8, 1919. 

2. He is not only delighted with the aotual show 
oondltion of your vehicles and of the fact that wilii four 
entries you took tour first prises, but with the faot that 
the condition of your vehicles shows dearly that all of 
the motor transportation assigned to your unit is kept in 
the best possible ooudition at ail times. 

3. it would have been impossible to have made the 
showing that you did unless the greate'st oare had been tak- 
en at a 11 times to keep your transportation in the best of 
oondition, and he desires that you express to the drivers 
ooncerned his personal gratification for the efforts and 
the showing which they have made. 




A/S 



"WHEN DO WE GO HOME?" 251 

field for awarding the Grand Prize, interest centered on the 1 J^-ton truck driven 
by Gruninger,and the committee of judges agreed that this truck, which had been 
assembled by Gruninger at St. Nazaire and driven by him 21,000 miles through 
all of the campaigns with the First Corps, was the best entry in the show. 
There were, however, certain lovers of horses among the judges who could 
not persuade themselves to award to a motor truck the Grand Prize at a show 
in which horses were involved. Gruninger was given the Grand Prize in the 
motor section of the show for his entry. General Wright was not satisfied to 
express his feelings orally. He directed the Corps Motor Transport Officer 
to send the Battalion a letter of congratulation. 




Chapter XXVI 



Homeward Bound 



WHILE the Battalion was still celebrating its success in the First 
Corps show, new cause for rejoicing arose. Orders came trans- 
ferring the 406th to the Fifth Corps. The pleasant part of it was 
that the Fifth Corps was preparing for immediate return to the United States. 
The Headquarters of the Fifth Corps were then at Nougent-en-Baussigny, 
but the 406th was to remain at Tonnerre, some 90 kilometers to the west 
until the movement toward the port should start. With the transfer orders 
came a complimentary order of appreciation from the Commander of the First 
Army Corps. 

When the first intimation was received that there was possibility of the 
Battalion's returning to the United States in the near future, a careful review 
of all the records was started. During the month of February Adjutant 
Green, with Magill and Mcllhenny and the clerical forces of the Companies 
were kept busy revising and reviewing passenger lists, cantonment lists and 
records. Just in the midst of the work Green was taken from the Bat- 
talion and ordered to the replacement depot at Gondrecourt and Lieutenant 
Wright was transferred from "D" Company to take up the duties of Adjutant. 
Lieutenant Pearson disposed of all ordnance and signal equipment. 

Orders for the disposition of the motor equipment were difficult to obtain. 
The First Corps was anxious to retain under its control the four Blue Ribbon 



HOMEWARD BOUND 



1 C 



winners, so they could be placed in the 1st Army Motor show with the First 
Corps entries. Approval for this procedure was eventually secured from Gen- 
eral Headquarters. 

In the meantime, orders had been issued by the Fifth Corps that, when the 
westward movement started, the 406th would proceed by motor transport. 
The departure from Tonnerre was scheduled for March sixth. To prevent 
any conflict of dates the prize-winning motors were entered in the Army show 
at Bar-sur-Aube on the fifth. At this show the Ford delivery car, because it 
had had very little use, was not allowed to compete, but the Dodge car, Geib's 
motorcycle and Gruninger's truck took the blue ribbons in their classes and in 
addition Gruninger again walked away with the Grand Prize. 

The long awaited movement toward the port started on the scheduled day, 
and at noon the trucks reached Auxerre. By evening the train had success- 
fully covered the first lap of the journey over the splendid gravel roads and 
collected at Gien, a picturesque old town on the River Loire. Many French 
units were being demobilized in the town and consequently all available billets 
were occupied by French soldiers. It was due only to the kindness and interest 
of the French artillery officers that the 406th was able to obtain quarters. 

Gien was the home of Edouard Thevelin and after mess several of the men 
set out to find their old friend. Edouard had contracted a severe case of grippe 
and was at his home slowly recovering. He was overjoyed to be greeted by 
his former comrades. The next morning most of the men found opportunity 
to visit him while the trucks were being supplied with fuel. He was living 
with his aged father, a musician, and this gentleman with his long white hair 
and gracious manner was an interesting character. As the men left to return 




Gruninger's Grand Prize Winner Geib's Motorcycle Headquarters' Dodge 

THREE PRIZE WINNERS AT THE TOURS SHOW 



2 54 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



to their trucks, the good French friends stood in their little front yard waving 
their hands and calling "Vive l'Amerique!" 

The trucks were halted in Orleans at noon and after mess the men had an 
opportunity to look around the old city before continuing to Vendome. This 
was the end of the day's journey and was reached early in the afternoon, but 
there were no particularly attractive places available to billet a battalion. 
A regiment of American cavalry occupied the French barracks and the Signal 
men were directed to a large airdrome on the outskirts of the town. When the 
trucks had been parked, all of the men except a small guard were dismissed 
until the next morning and most of them sought quarters for the night in the 
town. 

Before the Battalion departed from Tonnerre Captain Hasskarl, who had 
recently been promoted and put in command of Company "E," was assigned 
to the Fifth Corps billeting detail. The Battalion passed through Le Mans 
on Saturday afternoon, Harris having been posted there to guide the 




Courcelles 



HOMEWARD BOUND 255 



column to Courcelles, the town which Hasskarl had selected for the 406th. 
Courcelles had seen few Americans and the Signal men were welcomed with 
enthusiasm. Inspection officers arrived from Le Mans and the Battalion with 
all its property was formed in the park of the small chateau in which Head- 
quarters had been established. The officers and noncoms had labored earnestly 
to have this an orderly inspection. Every article was in its proper place in 
front of each man. The inspecting officers glanced over the assembly and 
remarked that this was the most orderly and the most nearly complete inspec- 
tion that they had made of all the troops which had passed through Le Mans. 
The following day the Battalion records were inspected by officials from the 
area Headquarters, and again a 100 per cent score resulted. Not a single 
change was ordered in the passenger lists, cantonment lists and soldiers' 
records. 

The last equipment to be turned over were the trucks, and these were 
delivered to Le Mans the day before the Battalion left Courcelles. The 
officers at the motor center were so pleased with the condition of the trucks — 
these being the first vehicles turned in to the depot in usable condition — that 
they gladly agreed to furnish chauffeurs so that three trucks could be retained 
at Courcelles to haul the luggage to the train. The Grand Prize winner was 
one of the three. 

Final adjustment of charges for damage to billets used by the Battalion 
was completed and on the morning of March 23rd, the 406th marched up the 
road toward La Suze, swinging along light-heartedly and appreciative of the 
fact that the accommodating officials at Le Mans had allowed the use of 
trucks for hauling the packs to the train. As they were marching along the 
road they came upon Gruninger's pet — the prize truck. Where the road 
approached a sharp curve the new chauffeur had lost control and the truck 
landed in a ditch. It had been with the Battalion from the very start of 
its labors in France. It had seen them through all of their campaigns. To 
bid it farewell thus was not conducive of light hearts, especially among the 
motor men. 

At La Suze a long train made up of American army box cars for the soldiers 
and a few French and German third-class coaches for the officers was waiting. 
This was the first time that the 406th as an organization traveled in box cars, 
although most of the soldiers in France at one time or another experienced 
the comforts of the "Hommes 40 Chevaux 8." Rumor had it that the trip 
from La Suze to Brest might take as long as thirty hours. This train cut the 
time in half. It left La Suze at four in the afternoon, sped along steadily 
through driving rain and reached Brest at seven the following morning. 

Upon arriving, the organization was treated to its first example of the 
systematic management of the port of Brest. The men were directed to a 
large kitchen where in less than a half hour all of the Fifth Corps troops were 



2<6 



THE FIRST BATTALION 




At Brest 



fed. And it was a good feed too. Immediately thereafter they swung along 
on their way up the hill and over the muddy road toward Camp Pontanazen. 
Colonel Voris was waiting in Brest to return to the States. He learned that 
his Battalion had arrived and he lost no time in visiting the camp. 

This time Captain Hasskarl's efforts to obtain quarters in advance were of 
no avail. No billets were assigned to troops until they actually arrived at the 
camp. The system was well organized however, and before long the men 
were given barracks. The report was general that it was the aim of the 
authorities to have each organization on shipboard not later than four days 
after it arrived in camp. Major Griest with Magill who was again acting as 
Adjutant, reported to Headquarters. Reams of instructions were handed to 
the Major and an officers' conference was held to go over the instructions and 
see just what work was to be done before final inspection could be asked. 
Tuesday evening two new lieutenants arrived — "Bill" Brittain, who was 
assigned to his old Company, and Sonner who was appointed Adjutant. 

At the camp everybody was rushed. Every outfit in the camp was required 
to furnish large details, some more than half of their men, to carry on the camp 
work. The huge machinery worked with fascinating precision. Late on the 



HOMEWARD BOUND 



'■S7 



twenty-seventh, orders were received that the final inspection would be held 
the next morning. Every one was astir at daylight and two trial inspections 
were held in the barracks. Then the organization reported at the hall and 
laid out its equipment which was in perfect condition. The speed and snap 
with which the men displayed their equipment won for them distinction, the 
inspection officer noting on his report. "Grade — extra excellent — no short- 
ages." The last two words were underscored. The pack inspection was 
scheduled for the same afternoon and as soon as the men returned to their 
quarters from the morning inspection, final instructions were given on the 
make-up of the pack. Again a trial inspection was held before reporting at 
the hall and this time as the men of the 406th filed by, the inspecting officer 
put on his report: "Excellent plus," and he underscored the "Excellent" a 
half dozen times. 

All of the records and passenger lists had been approved, inspections were 
over, but there were no ships ! This was a small organization and could prob- 
ably be tucked in to fill a boat at almost any time, but all of the boats avail- 
able had been used in an endeavor to make a record shipment for the month of 
March and to entirely clear the 26th Division, whose units had begun arriving 
in camp the day before the 406th appeared. 



-*/ *&, i y *:. 




De'.ousing Machines 



2<8 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



During this wait the Major received disquieting news from his home and 
after thinking the matter over for some time, he explained the situation to 
Colonel Milliken who was now Signal Officer at Brest. The Battalion was 
ready to sail but a ship would not be available for several days. Colonel 
Milliken reported these facts to the Chief Signal Officer at Tours who ordered 
Griest released for immediate embarkation on the "Augusta Victoria." 




On Board the 
U. S. S. "Seattle 



Captain Meigs assumed command of the Battalion on the fifth of April. 
Ever since the arrival at Brest he had been haranguing the men on the necessity 
of being absolutely "louse free." Each day he told them that if they had any 
suspicion of cooties in their equipment they should go to the delousing outfit 
and go through the "mill." He called up before each man the horror of being 
held in France when the rest of the Battalion sailed if at the last minute even a 



HOME WA RD BOU i\ D 



-59 



single cootie should be discovered. As a result practically every man had 
been deloused a half dozen or more times. 

Meigs had a beautiful new uniform. Shining buttons, shoulder bars, 
spurs, fancy belt, 'n everything! He was proud of it. The whole Battalion 
was proud of it. But horrible to relate, a cootie was discovered on the new 
outfit. It is said that this was the only cootie actually seen in the entire 
Battalion while it was in Brest. The men had gone through the delousing 
process for "safety first" reasons. Now Meigs and his wonderful outfit had 
to be deloused. When the uniform came back it was a sight to behold. Out 
of shape, shrunken, wrinkled, tarnished — nothing could have done it more 
damage, unless the Boche had gotten hold of it while they were retreating 
out of the Argonne. Meigs was short of funds because of his investment in 
the uniform. So he had to wear it as it was. "The coat tail was in the middle 
of my back, the sleeves were up to my elbows, the coat was tight across my 
chest, the breeches would have split if I had leaned over — the Government 
owes me a darn good uniform," was his comment. Luckily he carried a 
"spare" which he kept locked up for use upon his arrival in the States. 

On the evening of the seventh, the good news arrived that the Battalion 
would embark on the "Seattle" early the following morning. Lieutenant 
Schmidt with a large detail was dispatched to load the remaining Fifth Corps 
baggage. The men who had been on various duties around the camp were 
recalled and preparations made for the departure. 

On the morning of the eighth the Battalion continued its record of "firsts" 
when it was the first to turn in all of its surplus material to Camp Headquarters, 
the first organization to leave camp, and the first to board the ship. 

Hardtack presented a problem. Mascots were not allowed on the trans- 
ports. But Captain Meigs slipped the dog underneath his coat and with some 
help from one of the sailors on the "Seattle" he got the animal aboard. Once 




On the "Seattle" 



260 THE FIRST BATTALION 

on the ship Hardtack was sure of his passage home. The transport pulled out 
of the harbor at noon on the eighth and the headlands which shut off Brest 
gradually melted into the eastern horizon. 

The trip homeward was filled with a variety of duties such as guard, mess 
and police. On the second day out there was a call for eighty volunteer 
stokers, the idea being that with additional stokers greater speed could be 
made. Of the first eighty to volunteer, sixty were from the 406th. During 
the trip a hundred and twenty-five of the Signal men assisted in firing the 
boilers. 

On the "Seattle" another expert was discovered in the Battalion. Pember- 
ton had served a term in the Navy. On the "Seattle" he met an old friend in 
the Chief Engineer of the vessel. A generator had been out of service for three 
or four months and Pemberton set to work to make repairs. His success at this 
job won for him a comfortable room in the quarters of the Chief Engineer and 
his reputation for versatility was maintained to the last. 

The voyage continued with its details and inspections, interspersed with 
moving pictures and athletic contests. In the latter, Ford became boxing 
champion of the ship, defeating not only the best among the troops but the 
pick of the Navy personnel as well. 




Chapter XXVII 



From Khaki to U C ivies" 



RELIGIOUS service aboard the "Seattle" had just been completed on 
Easter morning when the boat entered New York harbor and the build- 
" ings of Manhattan became visible. The westward bound home seekers, 
who had left New York — then "an Atlantic Port" — twenty months before, 
hung eagerly over the rail straining their eyes for familiar sights. It is need- 
less to discuss the thoughts in their minds as they sailed up the harbor past 
the famous lady on Bedloe's Island. The vessel neared the pier in Hoboken 
and familiar faces were seen on the dock, among them Colonel Hubbell who 
was now out of uniform. 

As the men landed, the Red Cross treated them to mess while Captain 
Meigs set out to locate somebody in authority. Easter apparently was a 
military holiday and there were no officers at the pier. Meigs managed to 
learn that the Battalion was scheduled for Camp Upton. Spying a ferryboat 
which was approaching the pier, he connived with its Captain to carry the 
Battalion to Long Island. 

At Long Island City, the boat was met by an officer who was awaiting 
the arrival of the 406th "Labor" Battalion. During active service in France, 
the men frequently contended that "Telegraph" Battalion was a misnomer 
and that "Labor" Battalion was a far more appropriate name. So the 
officer was not so far from the truth. Once more there were Red Cross repre- 
sentatives present to distribute chocolate and other delicacies while the Army 



26: 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



representatives directed the men to waiting trains with the information that 
a hot meal would be furnished them upon their arrival at Camp Upton. 

It was almost midnight when the Battalion arrived at the barracks which 
had been assigned to the organization. Here there was a pile of uncooked 




On the Pier 



rations which had been dumped on the floor but there was no stove, no fire, 
no cook. The men had had no substantial food since the forenoon and the 
Battalion cooks went to work to prepare a meal. Meanwhile an artillery 
organization which by some error had been assigned to the same quarters 
arrived. The attack was repulsed. But when the food was ready the artillery 
men were invited to help dispose of it. 

The next day saw a round of inspections and the men were reequipped. 
Cantonment lists and other Battalion records were checked and rechecked by 
Magill and his Headquarters detachment and the clerical forces of the Com- 
panies. After three days the journey to Camp Dix began. Captain Meigs 
used his powers of persuasion to secure special cars for the organization as 
regular trains required several transfers en route. 

Another long round of inspections was started at Camp Dix on the twenty- 
fourth. All of the records were turned in to Camp Headquarters and the 
officers and soldiers became casuals. Again the careful work of the Bat- 
talion's clerical staff was apparent when the Major in charge of the demobiliza- 



FROM KHAKI TO "CIVIES 



263 



tion declared that this was the best set of records turned in by any organization 
which had passed through that center. 

Captain Meigs had been expending his energy in trying to keep the de- 
mobilization wheels turning and the men properly cared for. The Captain 
worked himself to such a point of exhaustion that he became ill and his condi- 
tion was so serious that Captain Macfarlan, in consultation with the camp 
physicians, ordered him to the hospital for an operation. Meigs submitted to 
the decree, disappointed at the thought that he would not be able to accom- 
pany the Battalion during its two or three remaining days of service. 

A reception in Philadelphia was scheduled for the twenty-fifth. From the 
time the Battalion left Courcelles there had been little opportunity for drill. 
Three of the officers, Schmidt, Pearson and Sonner, had been detained for dis- 
charge at Camp Upton. It fell upon Captain Hasskarl to take the Battalion 
to Philadelphia and throughout the morning he with Macfarlan and Brittain 
conducted a vigorous drill at the camp so that the men would be ready for the 
afternoon exercises. 

Special trains and trolleys delivered the organization at Broad and South 
Streets, Philadelphia. The men were formed and marched around City Hall 



The Return 





THE REVIEW AT BELL PARKWAY BUILDING 



264 



FROM KHJKI TO "CIFIES" 265 

and out the Parkway to the Bell Telephone building — Hardtack proudly ac- 
companying the column as one of its distinguished members. The sidewalks 
were lined with relatives and friends who cheered the seasoned veterans as 
they swung along in true military style. 

The Battalion passed in review before a party in which were General Saltz- 
man representing the Chief Signal Officer of the Army, Mr. Bethell then 
President, and Mr. Kinnard then Vice-President and General Manager of the 
Telephone Company, and formed in line before the Bell building. The day 
had been cloudy and when the formal review was completed the snow was 
driving down the street in a gale. The standards and guidons which had been 
carried through the entire service in France were returned at this formation. 
The color guard advanced and as the men stood at salute the band played the 
National Anthem. At the first note word was flashed through the operating 
rooms in the Bell Parkway Building and the operators rose from their chairs 
and remained standing until the last notes had died out. When the music 
ceased, Captain Hasskarl taking the standards from the color guard, returned 
them one by one to Mr. Kinnard. Accepting them Mr. Kinnard spoke: 

"Men of the 406th, our own Battalion: 

"It is a high honor you confer by placing in our keeping your 
guidons, your standard, your flag. 

"What was mere equipment when you received it has been made 
sacred by association with you in a glorious service. 

"Your fidelity and the excellence of your accomplishments have 
more than justified our confidence and realized for us our most 
ambitious hopes. 

"These symbols of your now famous organization will be cher- 
ished, reverenced and displayed, so that we may be not unmindful 
of the great unselfishness of you and your fellows, that the world 
might be purged of the fearful things that threatened civilization. 

"You bring to us high honor. We accept the custody of your 
battle flags and give you assurance of our respect, our pride, our grati- 
tude, our affection." 

The section of the Parkway between 16th and 17th Streets was roped off 
during the ceremony and now the police lowered the ropes that hemmed in 
the crowd on the pavements and the soldiers simultaneously broke ranks. Then 
what a happy bedlam! The soldier boys scattered pell-mell across the Park- 
way — for each had picked from the corner of his eye the place where his dear 
ones were standing. And they, not content to wait, rushed forward. The flurry 
of snowflakes driven furiously downward fell upon the reunited groups, but 
the unbounded joy of greeting proved the futility of the elements' attempt to 
dampen spirits. 

Some girls were not quite sure at first that they were kissing the right 
soldier and some of the boys admitted that they kissed the wrong girl. A 



266 



THE FIRST BATTALION 




Returning the Standards and Guidons 



mother hugged somebody else's son — but, well, she shifted into her own son's 
arms so quickly that she scarcely knew the difference. Tears streamed down 
faces that were at the same time wrinkled with smiles. A soldier's father 
burst into tears when he saw his boy. Returning fathers clasped wife and 
baby in one fond embrace — a baby perhaps that they had never seen before. 
One daddy's little girl didn't know her father, but she soon found out who he 
was. Sergeant Coates' daughter will always know him now, and she'll be 
mighty proud of him, too. 

All too soon assembly sounded on the bugles and in a few moments the 
406th was marching toward Scottish Rite Hall on North Broad Street, fol- 
lowed by admiring relatives and friends. Before the hall they broke ranks 



FROM KHAKI TO "CI VIES" 267 

and joined home folks once again and for almost an hour chatted and em- 
braced and tried to make up for the months gone by. 

At five o'clock the crowd moved to the banquet room. A number of large 
place cards told everyone where to sit if they chose to be with the most of 
their friends. "Jim" Repplier, Chairman of the General Committee for 
arranging affairs, with a few brief remarks turned the ceremony over to Mr. 
Kinnard who called upon the Rev. Dr. William M. Auld to deliver the invoca- 
tion. Mr. Kinnard next called the assembly to its feet and proposed a toast 
to Private Hollowell and Major Glaspey, who gave their lives to their country 
over there. He said: "Borrowing the words of the Persian astronomer-poet: 

" 'And when, like her, O Saki, you shall pass 
Among the guests star-scattered on the grass, 
And in your joyous errand reach the spot 
Where I made one, turn down an empty glass.' 

"Private John J. Hollowell, killed in the discharge of his duties 
near Neufchateau, February 11, 1918. 

"Major Rexford Mason Glaspey, died of pneumonia on November 
5, 1918, at Base Hospital 51. 

"God grant that when taps are blown for us we may have merited 
in part the great respect their supreme sacrifice commands." 

Mr. Kinnard, with a dramatic gesture, brought an empty glass downward 
on the table ; the crash resounded throughout the hall. The banqueters stood 
for a moment in silence and then, all as one, resumed their seats. 

They fell to their "chow," and an occasional song either by professional 
singers or better still, by the revelers themselves, added a zest to the excep- 
tionally fine food that the committee had provided. 

Speeches were now in order. Mr. Kinnard as toastmaster, first introduced 
President F. H. Bethell who, imbued with the spirit of the occasion, said that 
he had no voice to express his gratitude at being able to attend the dinner. 
And he assured the boys — every bloomin' one — that their jobs were all 
dusted off and waiting for them just as soon as they finished celebrating and 
wanted to return. The response to this announcement was deafening. 

General Saltzman, Executive Officer to General Squier and representing 
him at the dinner, spoke next and said among other things: "Records show 
that your Battalion had more active service than any other similar battalion 
in France. It is also a matter of record that General Foch remarked he would 
rather ride five miles to an American telephone than use a French one." 

So that every one might see them, the three men who were first cited for 
bravery — Gallo, Grindel and McKay — were asked by Colonel Hubbell, who 
next addressed the gathering, to stand up. Major Griest succeeded him on 
the floor and then Captain Hasskarl who, too hoarse to speak smiled an 



a68 



THE FIRST BATTALION 



affable smile that spoke worlds of things. Captain Maefarlan was next and 
he took back to camp a hearty testimony to Captain Meigs — for everybody 
was sorry that the Battalion's popular Commander was indisposed. Captain 
Maefarlan assured the gathering that he was not seriously ill however, and 
that he felt worse about not being able to come to the dinner than about being ill. 




The Philadelphia Party 



Colonel Voris was invited but could not attend. The men of the Battalion 
had a deep feeling for the "Old Man," and appreciated the sentiment which 
he expressed in the following letter to Mr. Kinnard: 

"I deeply regret that I did not receive your kind invitation to 
attend the reception given by the employees of your Company to 
the 406th Telegraph Battalion in time to thank you and write you in 
praise of the Battalion, for it was impossible for me to attend and 
sing their achievements in person. 

"I fear the deeds of the Battalion went unpraised, and I regret 
it. They served in the First Army Corps from February to Novem- 
ber last year through the three big engagements participated in by 
the American Expeditionary Forces in France, and I know the diffi- 
culties under which they worked, and I know the willingness, the 
intelligence and the efficiency displayed by each and every member of 
that organization. 

"The several Bell Companies furnished a number of Telegraph 
Battalions, and every one of them 'delivered the goods' in every way, 
but none of the other Battalions had the opportunities of the 406th 
in varied service, such as heavy commercial construction and main- 
tenance in the back areas, and later the 'rough and ready' construe- 





Major James W. Hubbell 
(later Lieutenant-Colonel) 



Major William P. Wattles 





Major Thomas H. Griest Captain Fielding P. Meigs 

THE COMMANDERS OF THE BATTALION 



269 




270 



AT CA*1 





B I Officers and Headquarters Detachment 



UPTON 



271 





ROSTER 




40Gih 


TELEGRAPH BATTALION— SIGNAL CORPS 
April 20, 1919 
CAPTAIN FIELDING P MEIGS, Commanding 


U. S. A. 


II] \DQUARTERS 


SUPPLY 


MEDICAL 


1st in 11 Edwin P Sonner 


1st Lieut. John M. Pearson, 


Capt. Douglas Macfarlan, 


Adjutant 


Supply Officer 


Medical Officer 


Sergeant. 1st Class, Robert W Magill Sergeant, 1st Class, Jerome M. Hamilton 


Sergeant, 1st Class, John A. Brown 


Sergeant Percy R Forman 


Corporal George B. Howell 


Private, 1st Class, John Boyd 


Sergeant E V. Mcllhenny 


Chauffeur. 1st Class, Charles E. Althouse 


Private, 1st Class, Bert W. Geldard 


Chauffeur, lsi Class, Henry W Taylor 


Private, 1st Class, John Lister 


Cook Albert L Custer 


Private, 1st Class, Arthur A Bennett 


Private Jess L. Dilley 


Pnvare Merrill W. DeVoe 


Private, 1st Class, Alonto M. Fuller 


Private Alfred W Teufel 


Private Charles A. Slocum 






COM PAN V 


„ D ., COMPANY "E" 


1st Lifat William 


... n l. Capt. Victor L. C. Hasskarl 


W.BrittaiN 1st Lieut. 


■Ienjamin Schmidt 




MASTER SIGNAL ELECTRICIANS 




Ht-nry D. Cowan 


Calvin E. Miller Walter J. GreUler 
SERGEANTS— FIRST CLASS 


Dolph T. McKay 


Martin II Buehler, 2nd 


Albert Coates Leon 0. Bailey 


Herman A. Bohn 


1 1 1 1 r s [cnsen 


Walter W. Ryno Charles W. Danley 


David McC. Hackett. 2nd 


i 1 Urffer 


Albert S. Spears Carl Huckelberry 


John D. McAnallen 


George 1 1 W Iward 


Harry C. Vick Clarence M. Hutchinson Edward H. Mumford 




SERGEANTS 




( >eorge A. Donbaugh 


Harry W. Favinger Edward J. Cavanagh 


Wallie Davis 


Edward T flannam 


William Heisler Jesse A. Gaghagen 


John F. Klingensmith 


Paul R Knight 


William E. Long Hiram V. Lindley 


John B. Lynch 


John Miller 


Waller L. Pemberlon Frederick Maloney 


Clarence B. Vance 


Ray C Tritle 


John E. Twohig Frank B. Westfall 
CORPORALS 




Harry 0. Carlson 


Leo F. Confoy George A. Beck 


William J. Beck 


Robert Craigmile 


William J B Daniels Clifford H. Drew 


John A Dwyer 


Jefferson Davis 


Harrv F. Devlin Ephraim McC. Echard 
Duncan J. Grant William T. Gnmm 


Tony Gallo 


James M Forwood 


Henry C. Lander 


Walter B. Haislop 


Hubert Harris Harry A. Lowstetter 


Ollie H. McKinney 


William J Kelly 


M\rl K Miller Timothy J. Manix 


Myles M. Morcom 


John E Noone 


Horace B. W'elk Ernest Richards 


Clyde L. Russell 


Frederick H. Stevens 


Roy Seybert 
CHAUFFEURS— FIRST CLASS 




Richard Doyle 


John V Engstrom Joseph C, Gaus 


Leif H. Hallgren 


John Gruninger, Jr. 


Ralph E. Mance 
CHAUFFEURS 


Glen Sebring 


John D Armstrong 


John J. Conway Joseph E. Burns 


Willard F. Geib 


William Dobbie 


Chauncey B Fullerton Howard E. Giles 


Howard F. Henk 


John H Graham, Jr. 


Ftank E. Huss Ford Lobaugh 


Alfred E. McCann 


Irving S. Kreider 


William Smith Ralph C Rauenswinder 


Chauncey McCann 


Semon H. Whitlock 


Leo F. Shaffer 

HORSESHOER 

William Robinson 

COOKS 


Fred J. Schmitt 


Howard C Bolt 


Williard W. Dailey William C. Geddling 
PRIVATES 


John A Johnson 


Wendell F. Adams 


Charles E. Alber William J. Adams 


Raphael C. Barto 


James Allien 


Albert Banholzer Carl W. Bielstein 


Earl Bissett 


Samuel J Bigh.im 


William G. Callahan James H. Blaisdell 


William J. Bogner 


Patrick F Canavan 


Olan R. Dennis Patrick J. Callahan 


Richard J. Curley 


J. lines F Cannon. Jr. 


John J. Ford George A. Farda 


August J. Fest 


George F Fennell 


Arno E. Herzer Charles J. Green 


Joseph J. Grindel 


John A. Hall 


George W. Hoffman George E. Guenther 


Leland F Guiles 


Frnest Hevman 


John' C. H. Kiehl Paul A. J. Henry 


Thomas E. Hoover 


Herbert W. Jones 


Edward H. Kissenger Frank M. Hull 


Harold M. King 


Christopher K.len 


U ilium J. Lester, Jr. Jacob Kline 
John E Lyons Archie L. Lewis 


Charles L. Leasure 


John McC. Koser 


Earl A. Logsdon 


Joseph T. Lord 


Harold G. Marr Raymond J McDonald 


John J. McDonell 
John L. McKinney 


John G. McFarland 


William 1. Oyler Almon D. McKay 


Fred J. Maurada 


Donald M. Shute Edward P. Mohr 


Emmett E. Moss 


Allan M. Peterson 


Harry L. Spangler Edwin L. Petersen 


William C. Pfefferle 


William C. Simmers 


William J. Terneson Raymond N. Poole 


George D. Reid 


Edmond J, Speitd 


Thomas Tomlinson Francis C. Riley 


Vincent P. Roach 


Gino D. Tomaso 


Leopold C. Walkup Matthew R. Robinson 


John D. Ross 


John Walker 


Charles S. Worrell Charles Seymour 


Alvin C. Sherrill 


Charles H. Whipple 


John Shinfessel 


William T. Smith 




Reason Swcaringen 


Leslie E. Thompson 




Miller Williams 


Michael F. Tormey 




Clarence E. Yeckel 


Bernard H. W'rede 



272 



FROM KHJKI TO "CI TIES" 273 

tion and operation of field lines under fire near the firing line. I 
was acquainted with several of these battalions and their work, 
and it is difficult to see how we could have gotten along without 
them ; but I know it would have been impossible to have gotten along 
without the Battalion so generously furnished and subsidized by The 
Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania. This is the general 
feeling of the Staff Officers of the First Army Corps, American Expedi- 
tionary Forces." 

Out on the banquet floor sat Chauffeur Gruninger (the best chauffeur in 
the army, 'tis said), and Mr. Kinnard asked him to say a few words. Then 
Corporal Drew of Company "E," Sergeant Buehler of Company "D," and 
Lieutenants Price and Dickson were called on. Sergeant Urffer told how the 
war made him perfectly at home with the boys — but well, he'd have to get 
used to his old American ways again. He expressed the sentiment of 
every one in the crowd whose hands and ways were a trifle hardened by 
vigorous campaigning. Lieutenant Murdaugh arrived at the dinner quite 
late. He sailed after the Battalion had left and reached America but a few 
hours before the big party was scheduled. He got there just the same, to 
the great delight of his "bunkies," for they had not seen him since he won his bars. 

"I'm damn glad to be here," said Lieutenant Brittain when it was his turn 
to speak, "and I hope you'll pardon my French, for I learned it over there." 
He proposed three cheers for Mr. Kinnard that were given with a hearty gusto, 
and the speaking ended with a few words from Sergeant Major Magill. 

The Battalion was scheduled to return to Camp Dix on the nine o'clock 
train, so the meeting necessarily broke up all too soon. Happy at the reunion 
and happy at the sincerity of Mr. Kinnard's parting words — "Just as soon as 
you're through jollifying, come back to us" — the boys bade their folks farewell. 
They formed in line outside Scottish Rite Hall and went to their bunks in the 
Camp Dix barracks, every tongue praising the affair that was tendered them. 

The next day, April 26th, the 406th Telegraph Battalion was mustered out 
and ceased to exist as a military organization. On that day it passed into 
history. It was almost to the day, two years after the men had been sworn in. 

There was a party for Company "E" in Pittsburgh a week later — May 
third. About ten o'clock in the morning a crowd began to gather in the lobby 
of the Grant Building, attracted by the Welcome Home signs and the presence 
of Hardtack, the mascot who was in charge of his bodyguard, Chauffeur L. H. 
Hallgren. Hardtack sniffed disdainfully at the bevy of admiring young 
women surrounding him, but when one most thoughtful friend, remembering 
the common failing of man and beast, produced various kinds of dog dainties, 
he very willingly unbent and speedily demolished the proffered food. This 
was only the beginning of a memorable day for Company "E's" mascot, who 
bore all the honors heaped upon him with characteristic soldier calm. 




THE HOMECOMING OF COMPANY "E' 

274 



FROM KHJKI TO ''CI VIES 



275 




Captain Victor L. C. Hasskarl 



A parade was scheduled for 4 P. M. 
but long before that hour the clans be- 
gan to gather. Members of Company 
"E" from out of town points brought 
their relatives and friends who helped 
to swell the crowd. Parade Chairman 
"Charlie" Lehmann had made complete 
arrangements with the "weather man" 
for good weather; and to prove that 
he was no slacker Old Sol was out in all 
his glory, smiling broadly upon the 
throng. At about 3 130, Top Sergeant 
Hackett- blew his whistle for the line- 
up. From the lack of speed with which 
the boys came to attention it seemed 
that at the moment they were more 
interested in hearing what "she" was 
saying, or relating some hair-raising 
experience to some buddy who stayed 
at home, than in getting ready for the 
parade. After the usual preparatory 
hustle and bustle the parade was formed and it moved out promptly at the 
hour set. 

Though wearing their red chevrons denoting discharge from the service 
of Uncle Sam, the boys had lost none of their soldierly bearing and the crowds 
along the route of the parade were unsparing in their admiration and applause. 
Behind the overseas veterans came two trucks filled with girls of the Telephone 
Company and friends of Company "E." The trucks were emblazoned with 
placards giving the record of Company "E's" achievements overseas, the 
second one carrying Hardtack who took the cheers and the noise with the 
composure of a veteran. Following the trucks came the male employees of 
the Company. There were floats of the Liberty Loan Committee two of 
which bore machine guns which kept up a continual rat-tat-tat. The route 
was over the principal streets of the city through packed lanes of humanity. 
The reviewing stand at the City-County Building was the terminus of the 
parade. Here Mayor Babcock spoke to the men, welcoming them in the name 
of the City of Pittsburgh : 

"Pittsburgh is proud of its boys who served in the World War. 
There is nothing too good for them and we of this great city are wait- 
ing for them with open arms. I congratulate you on the wonderful 
record you made in France, for in honoring yourselves by your service 
in France, you also honored the city which sent you. I also wish to 






. 



great was ins or 

..-..- has 

erseas -. . ks . ne- 

his 

• - 5 was here- His 

ne, I sin 
■ •■ ~- ■". as . g g sinPitts 

swer is the 

•.. We are all 
trig - s bless 

A: - g A'.', the civil- 

- 

Domes Marching H - speaker's 

ne s J. K. V 

- . - 
■ 

essing was as Mr. ness signs 




j. . 



justice 
Daring th< - 

■ - AD 

r songs were sang en Mi '.'■ 



FROM KHAKI TO "CI VIES" 277 

After the "eats," Mr. Badger who had been known throughout the Pitts- 
burgh Division as "the Daddy of Company 'E'," was asked to act as toa ' 
master. 

He called on Mr. Kinnard, who explained that this was the first real oppor- 
tunity he had found to talk to the boys; on the Parkway the wind had made 
short work of any efforts to make a peech. He spoke of the anxiety he felt 
during all the time the men were overseas, feeling in a measure, a personal 
responsibility for their welfare. He told of the pride which he felt because of 
their wonderful record in France and extended a welcome on behalf of the 
entire telephone organization. Mr. Stryker spoke of the excitement he experi- 
enced when news of the Battalion's embarkation was received and related the 
story of his stratagem in gaining admission to the pier where the "Seattle" 
docked. Mr. Lynch told of the deep interest taken in the boys by the women 
members of the Bell organization, his story of the ovation given them in 
Philadelphia being particularly touching. Mr. Kilpatrick and Mr. Hend< 
extended the welcome of the Engineering and Commercial Departments, 
expressing to the boys the pleasure they and their fellow workers felt at their 
safe return. 

Captain Hasskarl was still in the grip of a cold, so Mr. Martin expressed 
for him the pleasure he enjoyed at being associated with the men of Company 
"E." ". . . a finer set of men he never met; the memory of their courage 
and manliness is something that will remain in his memory forever." 

Lieutenants Foust and Collins told the crowd what they thought of Com- 
pany "E" — and it was aplenty! They expressed regret that they were not 
permitted to remain with the outfit until the finish, as they had formed attach, 
ments for the men which they were very sorry to see broken. Following this 
Mr. Badger called upon a number of men of Company "E" to stand up and 
let the crowd see them. It was near midnight when the party was over. 

The Battalion boys that lived in Harrisburg were too few for a parade, so 
the welcome-home reception took the form of a dinner — and a good one at that 
— on May the ninth. Songs and music and a bit of personal experiences 
punctuated the spare moments during the meal and then the diners turned 
their faces and chairs in the direction of the speakers' table. 

The genial toastmaster of the occasion was H. C. Kunkel who, after 
drinking a silent toast to the departed members of the Battalion, called 
on Mr. Kinnard who told how proud all were of the achievements of the 406th. 
Mr. Lynch told of the appreciation of the hazardous tasks faced by the men 
of the Bell unit. Mr. Kilpatrick and Mr. Stryker expressed their appreciation 
of the splendid work done by these men. Captain Hasskarl spoke of the 
honest-to-goodness gladness the men felt in being in the U. S. A. once again. 

Many of the Battalion boys were called upon to speak during the evening 
and most of them related interesting tales of their experience while over there. 



278 THE FIRST BATTALION 

Major Wattles who went to Harrisburg at the invitation of the Harrisburg 
crowd gave an inspiring talk. For many months Major Wattles was in 
command of Company "D" — to which the Harrisburg boys belonged — and 
his speech had a very personal interest to the crowd assembled. 

These parties were the closing chapter. The men of the 406th have re- 
turned to their telephone plows. They have had an experience which time 
cannot take from them. They have the knowledge that their little organiza- 
tion of telephone men gave the A. E. F. two lieutenant colonels — Repp, whose 
knowledge of telephone engineering made itself felt over the entire allied front, 
and Hubbell who did such a thorough job in organizing and training the 
Battalion that he was sent back to the States to train other troops. It gave 
five majors: Glaspey, who died in the service, Wattles, Griest, Gauss and 
Winston. It gave three captains: Meigs, Macfarlan and Hasskarl. In addi- 
tion it gave nearly a score of lieutenants, many of whom would have been cap- 
tains had the war lasted a couple of months longer. Of the noncoms and 
enlisted personnel, what need be said? Their accomplishments are set down 
in these pages. Their service began when the war started. They took part 
in every phase of the conflict. The reports of the officers of the American forces 
in Europe are sufficient evidence of the reputation they established. 

They are back on their telephone jobs. They are the richer by their 
experience in having shared in the fight to preserve democracy. 



APPENDIX 



APPENDIX 

THE following employees of The Bell Telephone 
Company of Pennsylvania, The Delaware and 
Atlantic Telegraph and Telephone Company and 
The Diamond State Telephone Company entered the 
Military or Naval Service of the United States during 
the World War, 1917-1918. 



•jir Indicates Killed in Action or Died in the Service 
as shown by a check of all available records 



Abraham A. Abrahams 
Charles E. Adams 
Harry L. Adams 
"frJoHN R. Adams 
William J. Adams 
Charles E. Alber 
Ralph G. Albrecht 
John J. Albright 
Fred McK. Alexander 
Charles S. Allen 
Robert R. Allen 
William H. Allen, Jr. 
Arthur W. Alsberge 
Charles E. Althouse 
Marvin L. Althouse 
French Ammons 
Paul G. Amon 
Ralph L. Amos 
Edwin McK. Amy 
John W. Anderson 
Philip M. Anderson 
John A. Angel, Jr. 
James L. Archibald 
Frederick W. Argall 
John W. Argo 
Francis E. Armstrong 
John D. Armstrong 
Charles C. Ashbaugh 
Albert W. Ashby 
Horace G. Atchinson 
William L. Atherholt 
Roland G. Aughinbaugh 



Joshua L. Bach 
Lyall P. Baer 
Leon O. Bailey 
William H. S. Baily 
Joseph F. Bair 
Ralph R. Baldwin 
Lawrence J. Balkey 
Lloyd McC. Banks 
Robert J. Banse 
Thomas Barney 
John F. Barr 
William D. Barrett 
Thomas H. Barron 
Thomas J. Barry, Jr. 
Herman Bartenbach 
Karl E. Barth 
Horace W. Bartholic 
""William B. Bartleson 
George S. Bartlett 
Raphael C. Barto 
Raymond A. Baschenecker 
William H. Bateman 
Robert E. Bates 
William J. Battin 
John A. Bauer 
John E. Bauer 
William T. Bauer 
Frederick J. Baughman 
Ernest E. Bayer 
James E. Beam 
Carl L. Bean 
William Beards 



281 



282 



APPENDIX 



William Beattie 


William F. Brandt 


Aubrey DeV. Beauclerk 


Thomas Branson, Jr. 


George A. Beck 


Raymond A. Brauer 


William F. Beck 


Carl W. Bredemeyer 


William H. Beck 


James F. G. Breen 


William J. Beck 


John R. Breen 


George W. Becker 


William F. Breitenbach 


John L. Becktel 


Chester A. Brenner 


Arthur A. Beisel 


Paul Bretherick 


Albert M. Bell 


Joseph Brezee 


-m-Emmett L. Bell 


William W. Brittain 


Brooks E. Bennett 


Gerhard J. Brocke 


Levin E. Bennett 


Lawrence C. Brosky 


Walter C. Benz 


Charles B. Brown 


Charles W. Berger 


Neil L. Brown, Jr. 


Francis A. Berner 


Wallace W. Brown 


Karl Bernstein 


Edgar R. Bruder 


Theodore Berrier 


Herbert J. Bruder 


Daniel C. Bertolette 


Jacob S. Brl'nhouse 


Michael F. Beysan 


Elmer J. Bucher 


E. Cliffton Bickel 


Robert D. Bucks 


Carl W. Bielstein 


Martin H. Buehler, Jr. 


Max A. Bierfreund 


Maurice S. Bulger 


Clarence A. Bierman 


John E. Burke 


Samuel J. Bigham 


Thomas Burke 


Leo E. Bilboa 


John A. Burns 


Milton 0. Billerbeck 


Joseph E. Burns 


Clarence H. Binder 


William R. Burrows 


Paul R. Binder 


Paul Burton 


Stanley G. Bird 


Howard Bushnell 


Howard Bishop 


Edward N. Butler 


Ralph C. Black 


Edward F. Buxton 


William F. Blackmar 




Bernard Blank 


Bernard W. Caesar 


Ira Blough 


George W. Cahoon 


William J. Bogner 


George H. Callahan 


Herman A. Bohn 


Patrick J. Callahan 


Howard C. Bolt 


Edric W. Camp 


Hugh T. Boran 


Thomas Campbell 


John 0. Border 


James F. Cannon, Jr. 


Russell W. Born 


Joseph A. Cannon 


Walter H. Bornman 


Harry 0. Carlson 


Earl M. Bossert 


Edwin J. Carr 


Barrett W. Boulware 


Charles H. Carroll 


George P. Bowes 


G. Thomas Cartier 


John T. Boyd 


Russell D. Carver 


Darius Boyle 


Michael J. Cassidy 


Clark S. Bradford 


Leo J. Castle 


William Bradford 


Raymond S. Caton 


Wilfred Brady 


Edward J. Cavanal'gh 





APPENDIX 


283 


Russell G. Chambers 


Marion K. Cummings 




James H. Chandler 


Raymond D. Cupps 




Albert B. Charles 


John B. Curran 




Charles C. Charlson 


William H. D. Cussack 




John H. Christensen 


Herbert C. Custard 




Edward B. Clark, Jr. 


Albert L. Custer 




James R. Clark 






John J. Clark 


Earle V. Dague 




Roland E. Clark 


William W. Dailey 




Robert H. Close 


Anthony J. Dallett 




Morris S. Clouser 


Christopher P. Daly 




Albert Coates 


Floyd L. Daniels 




-h-Howard H. Coffan 


William J. B. Daniels 




James W. Cogan 


Charles W. Danley 




Peter P. Cohen 


Allard J. Davids 




Walter K. Cohill 


Rowland G. Davis 




Austin T. Cole 


Wallis Davis 




Myron F. Cole 


John H. Day 




Raymond S. Cole 


Arthur DeHaven 




George K. Coleman 


Charles A. Deitrich 




Francis E. Colien 


Aniello DeLuco 




Charles H. Collins 


Walter R. Demberger 




John M. Collins 


Harry 0. Dengler 




Arthur D. C. Colvin 


George V. DeRevere 




William M. Colvin 


Gaspar Desmone 




Albert R. Compton 


George A. Dessin 




William B. Conley 


Earl A. Detwiler 




Orville G. Conover 


Lyle C. DeVeaux 




Jennie E. Conroy 


William C. Devereaux 




Charles E. Conway 


Harry F. Devlin 




Erle McK. Conwell 


Peter F. Devlin 




Lloyd E. Cook 


Harvey J. Dible 




William L. Cook 


William M. Dickson 




Vincent P. Corcoran 


George N. Dietrich 




Michael J. Corless 


Norbert F. Dietsch 




Milton W. Corkron, J 


r. Albert J. Dietz 




Leroy A. Cortwright 


Bartram H. Dilks 




Ralph A. Costley 


Franklin E. Dilks 




Harold G. Cousins 


Frank J. Dillon 




John W. Coverdale 


Charles Dittrick 




Henry B. Cowan 


William Dobbie 




Mortimer W. H. Cox 


Robert G. Dodds 




Robert Craigmile 


Henry G. Doerrmann 




Don S. Crispen 


Martin P. Doherty 




David B. Crissman 


John H. Dolan 




Gertrude L. Crofton 


George A. Domsohn 




Tessie M. Croghan 


Joseph J. Donahue 




Frank S. Crosland 


George A. Donbaugh 




Filbert P. Crossan 


Joseph W. Donnell, Jr. 




Ira R. Cumberledge 


Arthur L. Donoghue 





28 4 



APPEND I X 



Thomas D. Donovan 


Harold J. Evans 


John H. Dore 


Oliver E. Evans 


William J. Dougherty 




Richard H. Douglas 


-m-James F. Fagan 


Kenneth McI. Downes 


Edwin C. Fager 


Howard G. Downing 


Walter D. Farley 


John F. Doyle, Jr. 


Joseph D. Farringtox 


Joseph F. Doyle 


Charles Farwell 


Richard Doyle 


Irving G. Fasold 


Thomas S. Drake 


Harry W. Favinger 


Charles D. Draper 


Courtney Fawcett 


Jacob W. Drase 


George F. Fennell 


Clifford H. Drew 


-^-Clarence P. Ferguson 


Eugene Driscoll, Jr. 


John Fernon 


Austin M. Dryden 


August J. Fest 


Leon S. Duckworth 


Albert L. Fetter 


Charles D. Dugan, Jr. 


Raymond H. Fichter 


Martin J. Dugan, Jr. 


Cyril H. Fiedler 


George M. Dulabon 


John H. Filbert 


Myron F. Dull 


Walter F. Finkenhoefer 


Milton R. Dunkle 


Howard W. Fischer 


Robert L. Dunlap 


Herbert Fite 


James H. Dunn 


John Fitzgerald 


•&Leo W. Durkin 


William K. Flaherty 




William G. Flannigan 


William F. Eames 


Alby S. Fleming 


Charles Ebenbach 


Frank T. Floyd 


William C. Eberle 


-fr Walter J. Flynn 


E. McClelland Echard 


Robert L. Fohl 


Edward B. Edwards 


George M. Foliart 


Victor Egbert 


Harry M. Foos 


Kurt R. Egelhaaf 


Lester T. Forbes 


Verner F. Eichholz 


Frederick B. Ford 


Frank Eisenberg 


John J. Ford 


Herman H. Eisenberg 


Joseph F. Forrester 


Joseph Eldridge 


William J. Forsythe 


Kenneth Eldridge 


James M. Forwood 


Ralph S. Eldridge 


Raymond Foulkrod 


William H. Elliott 


Jacob B. Foulkrod 


Paul J. Ellis 


Luther R. Foust 


Raymond W. Ellis 


Herbert Fox 


Thomas F. Ellis 


-A- John H. Fox 


William W. Ellis 


Floyd M. Frampton 


Frank Else 


Charles H. Francis 


Albert W. Emerick 


Ralph E. Frank 


John V. Engstrom, Jr. 


Paul Frankenfield 


Thomas Ennett, Jr. 


Ralph C. Frantz 


George K. Erb 


Carl R. Freehafer 


Russell F. Erby 


Sylvester D. Freeman- 


Roland A. Esslinger 


Hugh B. Frey 



APPENDIX 


285 


John C. Friel 


^Rexford M. Glaspey 




Thomas M. Friend 


John S. Gleason 




Harry R. Fritz 


Harold F. Goodwin 




Herman C. Fromuth, Jr. 


Harry W. Gosser 




George H. Fry 


Charles F. Graber, Jr. 




Ross P. Fry 


Armive L. Gracey 




John F. Fuller 


John H. Graham, Jr. 




Chancey B. Fullerton 


Duncan J. Grant 




Marcellus S. Fulmer 


Alfred L. Gray 
Earl E. Gray 




Edward W. Gabriel 


John Greeley 




Jesse A. Gaghagen 


Charles J. Green 




John J. Gaghan 


Charles R. Green 




Willard J. Gaines 


John I. Gregg 




Robert C. Galbraith 


Donald Gregory 




Thomas M. Galbreath 


James A. Gregory 




Carlisle Gale 


Walter J. Gretzler 




Cletus M. Gallagher 


Thomas H. Griest 




John F. Gallagher 


Harold J. Griffiths 




Tony Gallo 


Howard N. Grimes 




Walter J. Gander 


William T. Grimm 




John F. Gardiner 


Joseph J. Grindel 




John LaR. Garrett 


William B. Groll 




Ethel F. Garson 


Stewart A. Grove 




Charles N. Gaskill 


Louis A. Gruneberg 




Earl I. Gaskill 


John Gruninger, Jr. 




Albert C. Gaster 


Leonard C. Grupe 




Clyde L. Gatchel 


Howard W. Guild 




William L. Gauntt 


Walter A. Gulbrandsen 




Joseph C. Gaus 


Arthur R. Gundelfinger 




James H. Galtse 






William F. Gauss 


David McC. Hackett, Jr. 




John J. Gavin 


Frederick P. Haehnlen 




Albert V. Gee 


Conrad V. Hahn 




Willard F. Geib 


Harry C. Hahn 




William G. Geiger 


William M. Hain 




Wilbur A. Geiselman 


Edgar C. Haines 




& Wilson D. George 


Walter B. Haislop 




John F. Gerboth 


Charles E. W. Hale 




William R. Gerhard 


Harold L. Hale 




Harry Gianelle 


John H. Hall 




Joseph E. Gibbons 


Leif H. Hallgren 




Theodore W. Gibson 


Henry P. Hallowell 




Enoch T. Gifford 


Irvin Halterman 




Henry D. Gilbert 


Jeffrey A. Halterman 




Howard E. Giles 


Walter J. Hamburger 




Eugene M. Gillespie 


Charles E. Hamill 




Thomas P. Gilligan 


Arthur J. Hamilton 




Edmund W. Gilpin 


Edward Hamilton 




Ralph D. Glancy 


•wtJames Hamilton 





286 



APPENDIX 



Jerome M. Hamilton 


Herbert M. Higgins 


Raymond Hamilton 


Selmar A. Higgins 


Edward T. Hannan 


Wallace D. Hikes 


Samuel N. Harbolt 


Frank M. Hill 


John W. Harding 


Thomas J. Hill 


George H. Harker 


Mabel Hilsee 


Thomas F. Harkins 


Joseph D. Hines 


-ft Ralph E. Harlacher 


Stacy C. Hinkle 


John N. Harlan 


Charles A. Hiss 


Ruthford A. Harland 


Howard F. Hoagland 


Louis A. Harnischfeger 


George A. Hoch 


Clifford W. Harris 


Walter J. Hodrus 


Hubert Harris 


Andrew J. Hoff 


Clarence W. Hartman 


Herman M. Hoffman 


Harold E. Hartman 


William H. Hoffman 


Carl A. Hartmann 


Wilmer J. Hoffman 


Howard D. Hartzell 


Harry Hohnadle 


Francis A. Harvey 


Hampton W. Hoke 


Victor L. C. Hasskarl 


John M. Holdcroft 


Robert V. Hatch 


Alfred J. Holden 


Rowland A. Hauser 


Charles C. Holland 


Theodore Z. Haviland 


Harold W. Hollis 


Harold S. Hayden 


Roy C. Hollister 


Frank R. Heath 


Harry A. Holloway 


William F. Heckert, Jr. 


ftJOHN J. Hollowell 


Edward T. Hee 


Stanley T. Holmes 


Harry T. Heenon 


S. Edwin Hood 


Herbert C. Heideck 


Richard T. Hoover 


Jennie T. Heilig 


Thomas E. Hoover 


Joseph E. Heim 


George F. Hopkins 


George F. Heinecke 


Louis G. Hosfield 


William C. Heisler 


Charles A. Hough 


Benjamin W. Heist 


Chester C. Hough 


John D. Helmlinger 


James R. Howe 


William E. Helms 


George B. Howell 


George F. Helt 


William M. Hoyer 


Thomas W. Hemperly 


James W. Hubbell 


Clifford Hemphill 


Richard T. Hugus, Jr. 


Jacob E. Henderson 


Z. Zimmerman Hugus 


Samuel R. Henderson 


Hamilton A. Hume 


Frederick Henger 


George A. Hunt, Jr. 


Howard F. Henk 


Perry A. Hunter 


Frederick Henning 


Warren C. Hurst 


Paul A. J. Henry 


Frank E. Huss 


John W. Herbert 


Theodore H. Husted 


Milton B. Herr 


Clarence M. Hutchinson 


Arno E. Herzer 


Harry K. Hutchinson 


Horace L. Hess 




Carl S. Hevener 


Harry D. Inman 


Harry T. Heverin 


George E. Irvin 



APPENDIX 



287 



Harry A. Irwin 
Lee S. Izer 

Robert A. Jack 
Edward S. Jackson 
George W. Jacobs 
Walter James 
Charles W. Jamison 
George Jamison 
Edward A. Jardel 
Harry Jensen 
Herbert Jerman 
Albert E. Johnson 
Charles E. Johnson 
Edward V. Johnson 
Elsie E. Johnson 
Howard B. Johnson 
Hugh W. Johnson 
John A. Johnson 
Thomas W. Johnson 
Walter D. Johnston 
Frank A. Jones 
Herbert W. Jones 
James P. Jones 
Orson D. Jones 
Robert K. Jones 
■frSAMUEL J. Jones 
Vincent P. Jones 
William H. Jones 
John G. Josefson 
Charles H. Julin 

Charles A. Kaelin 
John B. Kane 
Joseph Kannaka 
Charles R. Kay 
James P. Keating 
James W. Keenan 
George W. Kellogg 
George F. Kemp 
Thomas J. Kennedy 
Arthur R. Kennedy 
Alexander M. Kenney 
James F. Kenney 
Frederick P. Kent 
Frederick C. Kenworthy 
Leo P. Keough 
Paul Kerin 
Joseph L. E. Kerns 
William J. Kerr 



John C. Kiehl 
John C. Killmer 
Charles W. King 
Delancey J. King 
Harold M. King 
Laurence D. King 
Lawrence J. King 
Vinton P. King 
Oliver Kinnie 
Henry B. Kipp 
John J. Kipphorn 
Elmer S. Kirby 
Frederic R. Kirkland 
Paul A. Kirkpatrick 
Harry F. Kirst 
James D. Kistler, Jr. 
August J. Klein 
Carroll W. Kleine 
Robert M. Klepfer 
John F. Klingensmith 
William L. Klocke 
Henry R. Knight 
Paul R. Knight 
George G. Koch 
George J. Kohler, Jr. 
Webster S. Kohlhaas 
Louis R. Kohlheyer 
Donald S. Konkle 
Christian P. Kopp 
Benjamin W. Koppe 
Paul E. Kornmann 
John McC. Koser 
John A. Kraus 
Paul T. Kraus 
Irving S. Kreider 
-mtCharles B. Krein 
William J. Kreis 
William J. Krohn 
Alfred M. Krouse 
Charles R. Kulp 
Harry J. Kulp 
Frank L. Kurtz 

Robert R. Lafferty 
Edwin R. Lamon 
Henry C. Lander 
William J. Landgraff 
Oliver G. S. Langer 
Paul D. LaRoche 
Ralph B. Lauer 



APPENDIX 



William P. Lavelle 


Edmund Y. Ludwig 


William La wall 


-&Alan W. Lukens 


John A. Lawler 


Samuel C. Lukens, Jr. 


Edward S. Lawrence 


^Michael S. Lukish 


William L. Lawson 


John F. Lupton 


William C. Lecates 


Frederick F. Lutz 


Johanna C. Leahy 


William M. Lycett, Jr. 


Charles C. Leasure 


George B. Lynn 


David W. Lee 


John E. Lyons, Jr. 


William R. Lenox 


-n-William J- Lyshon 


John A. Lenz 




Hugo B. H. Lersch 


John D. McAnallen 


William J. Lester, Jr. 


Harry F. McAnaney 


Bernard J. Leu 


Joseph A. McAndrew 


-fr Marshall B. Lever 


James A. McCabe, Jr. 


Morris Levin 


James K. McCannon 


Edward A. Levins 


Alfred E. McCann 


Archie L. Lewis 


Chauncey McCann 


David F. Lewis 


Francis F. McCann 


Vivian Lewis 


iVRonald H. McCaughey 


Louis F. J. Lhoest 


David McClay 


Arthur W. Lincoln 


John A. McCloskey 


Hiram V. Lindley 


Joseph F. McConnell 


Robert Lindsay, Jr. 


Joseph F. McCormick 


Mack H. Lingenfelter 


William H. McCormick, Jr. 


Fred T. Lipp 


Alexander J. McCullough 


Harry G. Lippincott, Jr. 


^t James McCutcheon 


Curt A. Littman 


John P. McDonald 


Thomas A. Livesey 


Raymond J. McDonald 


Nathan A. Livingston 


William A. McDonald 


Francis V. Lloyd 


Francis C. McFarlin 


Ford Lobaugh 


Thomas E. McGann 


Alvin E. Loeffler 


John A. McGinty 


Earl A. Logsdon 


Eugene V. McIlhenny 


Albert G. Long 


Harry E. McIntosh 


William E. Long 


Almon D. McKay 


Valentine D. Longo 


Llewelyn T. McKee, Jr. 


Morris M. Loomis 


John L. McKinney 


Charles F. Loper 


Ollie H. McKinney 


Joseph T. Lord 


William E. McKinney 


•^JOSEPH W. LORSONG 


James A. McLaughlin 


Charles H. Lott 


Thomas McLaughlin 


Charles J. Lovett 


Bernard M. McNally 


Dory Loving 


William E. McNamara 


Charles C. Lowe 


Clifford H. McNary 


Harry A. Lowstetter 


Albert F. Maahs 


Ivan D. Loy 


Walter S. MacCorkle 


Timothy J. Loyd 


Alistair P. MacFarlane 


Paul DeW. Lucas 


Frank J. Machlan 


Howard M. Ludwick 


Harold D. Macklin 



APPENDIX 



289 



James E. MacMillin 


Fred J. Maurada 


George MacMurtrie 


George Max, Jr. 


-^Edward A. MacNally 


Earle LaR. Maxson 


David W. MacRonald 


John K. Maxwell 


Casper J. Mader 


William M. Mayer 


Henry W. Mader 


Russell R. Mayo 


Harry D. Madison 


Horatio B. H. Mecleary 


John G. Magee 


Fielding P. Meigs 


Robert W. Magill 


George A. Melick 


Elmer V. Magrath 


Cove C. Melson, Jr. 


Paul M. Maguigan 


Garth E. Mercer 


John H. Mahan 


Ralph C. Mercer 


William A. Mahan 


Alfred A. Merkhoffer 


-^-Edward F. Maher 


William W. Merrill 


Joseph S. Maher 


Claude M. Metelski 


William G. Mahon 


Earl E. Metz 


Frederick C. Maine 


Usher Meyer 


Elwood R. Major 


Harry L. Meyers 


Jesse D. Major 


Jacob Meyers 


George C. Makin, Jr. 


Charles A. Mick 


Earl Maley 


John Mierle 


John E. Maley 


Calvin E. Miller 


Raymond P. Malley 


George M. Miller, Jr. 


Edward Malloy, Jr. 


Granville G. Miller 


Frederick Maloney 


Harry N. Miller 


Ethel M. Maltby 


Howard A. Miller 


Timothy J. Manix 


James H. Miller 


Charles I. Manley 


John Miller 


Palmeri Manlio 


John Wade Miller 


Harry A. Mankin 


John William Miller 


William McK. Mann 


Leon B. Miller 


Thomas W. Mannix 


Mark W. Miller 


Charles C. Mansfield 


Myrl K. Miller 


Walter 0. Mansfield 


Reeder Miller 


Frank C. March 


George H. Millholland 


Bernard A. Margulis 


Harold H. Millin 


Francis E. Markey 


Millard F. Mills 


Edward J. Marotte 


Carroll Missimer 


Harold G. Marr 


Horace H. Mitchell 


Raymond B. Marriner 


Peter A. Mitchell 


John L. Marsh 


Edward J. Moerk 


Alexander S. Marshall 


Edward P. Mohr 


Kenneth C. Marshall 


Frederick W. Molly 


Claire V. Martin 


Harman M. Molony 


Harry J. Martin 


Domonick Monaco 


Lewis L. J. Martin 


Andrew P. Monroe 


Norman G. Marvel 


Helen F. Mooney 


William J. Marwood 


James J. Mooney 


Charles R. Mather 


Frank R. Moore 


-^Arthur Mattner 


Paul R. Moran 



290 



APPENDIX 



Myles M. Morcom 


Graham L. Ogle 


John P. Morgan 


Milton E. Olson 


James F. Morris 


Joseph J. Olwell 


James T. Morrissey 


Wiswell O'Neil 


James J. Moser 


John A. O'Reilly 


Emmett E. Moss 


Lee J. Orr 


Raymond H. Mounts 


James C. Othus 


Joseph N. Moyer 


James S. Oxenham 


Raymond U. Mueller 




Joseph L. Mullen 


Reginald D. B. Pappe 


Elmer F. Muller 


McRea Parker 


Edward H. Mumford 


Robert MacD. Parker 


George L. Mumford 


Ruth M. Parker 


Harold Mumma 


James B. Paterson 


Samuel L. Mumma 


George J. K. Patton 


Albert A. Munch 


Harry L. Patton 


Herbert C. Munyan 


Harry E. Paulsen 


Burton D. Murdaugh 


John C. Pawlowski 


Richard H. Murfit 


Austin Pearce, Jr. 


James F. Murphy 


James W. Pearson 


James T. Murphy 


Joseph D. Pedlow 


Joseph J. Murphy 


John W. Peel 


Michael F. Murphy 


Walter L. Pemberton 


Raphael C. Murphy 


-^Nelson W. Perine 


Sylvanua W. Murphy 


George R. Perrin 


George H. Mussina 


Howard W. Perry 


Russell R. Mutzebaugh 


Allan M. Peterson 


Herbert K. Myers 


Russell H. Pfeil 


Warren J. Myers 


John J. Phelan 




Leon H. Phelan 


Adrian R. Naugle 


John E. Phelps 


Edmund J. Nauss 


Mark S. Phillips 


Robert D. Neal 


Reese J. Phillips 


Harry F. Newcomb 


Charles F. Pierce 


Irvin C. Newcomb 


Vernon B. Pike 


Patrick F. Newell 


John V. Pinkerton 


Sylvanius R. Newhart 


George A. Pittman 


Philip W. Nichol 


Charles McG. Pollock 


Robert F. Nichol 


Joseph Pollon 


Charles C. Nickola 


Chester D. Pope 


Howard J. Nicodemus 


Theodore Potts 


Paul Nicoladse 


Jerome W. Poulliott 


-^-Raymond Nicolas 


Charles E. Poust 


Willoughby F. Nicolls 


Albert C. Powell 


Harry N. Niehoff 


William J. Powers 


William Noble 


Russell A. Preble 


Edward J. Noonan 


Donald Price 


John E. Noone 


Richard I. Price 


Charles R. Norris 


Shirley C. Price 


^Claud N. Northrop 


William H. Price 



APPENDIX 



191 



Homer W. Princler 


Moncure D. Robinson 




HlLRY S. PURBAUGH 


Roy T. Robling 




Edward N. Purple 


Joseph C. Rodgers 
Kathryn C. Rodgers 




Paul J. Quimby 


Edward C. Rohr 




William E. Quinby 


Charles F. Rohrbach 




William J. Quinn 


Harry Rohrer 
Philip H. Rolling 




Gilbert B. Radcliffe 


Warren W. Rommel 




Charles W. Radetzky, Jr. 


John H. Rose 




Flora L. Rall 


Peter Ross 




Helen Rauch 


Stanley B. Ross 




Dorothy E. Rosner 


Thomas F. Ross, Jr. 




Ralph C. Rauenwinder 


Samuel G. Rossiter 




Frank C. Reading 


William T. Rousseau 




■fr Joseph A. Read 


John Rowlett 




Louis F. Realey 


Maurice E. Rulong 




Edgar G. Reed 


Clyde L. Russell 




James Reekie 


Charles W. Russell 




Edward M. Reese 


Jesse 0. Rutherford 




Francis H. Reese 


Edward W. Ryan 




John C. Reese 


Walter W. Ryno 




George D. Reid 






Mason D. Reiff 


Max Sandberg 




John A. Reilly 


Joseph Santaro 




Richard M. Reinoehl 


Westley C Satterfield 




Francis M. Remer 


-w-Spencer H. Sauer 




Edward P. Renouf 


George J. Sauerhoff 




William F. Repp 


John Saunders 




George P. Rese 


Frank Scalese 




Charles H. Reuter 


Michael J. Scanlon 




Harry M. Reuter, Jr. 


Irvin T. Scargle 




Nowland E. Reynolds 


Charles J. Schaefer, Jr. 




John L. Rhea 


Harold J. Schaetzle 




Walter A. Rhoades 


Frederick W. Schafer 




Howard D. Rhodes 


Gustavus R. Schaffer 




Salvatore D. Ricciardi 


Howard W. Scharp 




Ernest Richards 


George B. Schatz 




George B. Richards 


Howard B. Schauer 




Floyd J. Richardson 


Frank M. Scheifley 




William M. Richardson 


William M. Schleich 




Maurice R. Rickman 


Edward J. Schmid 




Francis C: Riley 


Fred. J. Schmitt 




Herbert T. Riley 


Byron K. Schneider 




William Risko 


Joseph A. Schnitgen 




Harry Ritch 


Bessie G. Schofield 




Charles L. Ritchie 


Charles J. Schofstal, Jr. 




Erastus H. Roberts 


Herbert R. Schooley 




Walter H. Roberts 


William H. Schultz 




Archibald E. Robertson 


James S. Schwarm 





-9- 



JPPEXDI X 



William J. Schwarm 
Herbert H. Schwartz 
Gregory J. Schwendeman 
//Charles H. Scott, Jr. 
James P. Scott 
William J. Scott 
Winfield Scott, Jr. 
John N. Scull 
Ralph H. Scutt 
Glen C. Sebring 
Claude W. Seddon 
Raymond E. Seeger 
Hurvey B. Seibel 
Edwin W. Seibert 
William J. Seibold 
Carl N. Sellors 
William J. Semple 
Roy Seybert 
Jesse Seybert 
Charles Seymour 
Leo. F. Shaffer 
Oliver J. R. Shanahan 
Elmer J. Shaneman 
Samuel Shapiro 
Everett C. Sharpe 
Howard E. Shaw 
Leo J. Sheehan 
Henry C. Sheeler, Jr. 
Harold A. Shelly 
Robert F. Shenk 
James J. Sheridan 
Charles L. Sherman 
William H. Sherman 
Alvan C. Sherrill 
John Shimfessel 
Samuel D. Shipley 
Harper M. Shoap 
Maurice T. Shore, Jr. 
William H. Short 
Clellan C. Shull 
Rose A. E. Simendinger 
William C. Simmers. Jr. 
Edgar J. Simons 
Henry L. Simons 
Robert L. Simpson 
Michael J. Simsack 
Walter M. Skillmax 
Frank E. Slack, Jr. 
Andrew M. Slitzer 
Frank H. Smedley 



Charles J. Smith 
Charles W. C. Smith 
-/;Clayton T. Smith 
Deily Smith 
Edgar L. Smith 
Hubert B. Smith 
Hugh J. Smith 
John L. Smith 
John M. Smith 
Joseph A. Smith 
Joseph D. Smith 
Leo E. Smith 
Robert W. Smith 
Roy A. Smith 
Theodore F. Smith 
Walter M. Smith 
William Smith 
William A. Smith 
William J. Smith 
Jacob E. Smithoover 
George A. Snedeker 
Perry L. Snow 
Frank E. Snyder 
Robert J. Snyder, Jr. 
William F. Snyder 
Ralph J. Somers 
James F. Spahr 
Harry L. Spangler 
Albert F. Spears 
George R. Specht 
Edmund J. Speitel 
Merritt R. Sperry 
Van C. Spence 
Frank S. Spring 
Joseph A. Stadt 
Harry Staley 
Edwin B. Stason 
Jacob A. Staublein 
Clarence A. Staudinger 
Joseph J. Steedle 
George T. Steeley 
William Steen 
Paul Steinburg 
Otto P. Stemler 
Allan G. Stern 
Leon M. Sterner 
Raymond R. Sterner 
Clarkson G. Stevens 
Frederick H. Stevens 
George L. Stevens 



APPENDIX 



293 



Hugh T. Stewart 


Roy D. Thompson 


Clarence F. Stifel 


Benjamin S. Thorp, Jr. 


Harry C. Stille 


Raymond H. Thorpe 


Everett St. John 


William C. Thurston- 


Raymond Stocker 


Thomas TlERNEY 


John N. Stockley 


Percy E. Tillson 


John W. Stone 


William R. Timby 


Paul M. Stookey 


Edward F. Timlin 


Calvin P. Stouch 


Edwin A. Tomlinson 


Robert C. Stoughton 


Thomas Tomlinson 


Henry A. Stout 


William H. Tomlinson 


Renus G. Strand 


Alfred E. Townsend 


Lester G. Straub 


John G. Treichler 


William C. Straub 


Ray C. Tritle 


Albert LeR. Streck 


Morris E. Troost 


Earl E. Strope 


Edward H. Trudell 


William G. Stull 


George W. Truman 


Earle G. Stump 


George W. Trump 


William A. Stumpf 


Fulton G. Turner 


Guy F. Stutler 


Paul D. Turner 


Leroy N. Suddath 


Robert S. Twiggs 


Daniel G. Sullivan 


Alvi T. Twing 


Lester E. Summy 


John E. Twohig 


Olin M. Sunfield 




^Charles K. Suplee 


Russell E. Umbel 


William L. Suter 


William A. Underwood 


Earl W. Sutvan 


James E. Updegraff 


Charles W. Swan 


Robert I. Urffer 


Frank Swartley 




Clarence B. Swayne 


Clarence B. Vance 


Charles N. Sweeney 


Claud J. Vanderslice 


Norman Sweetser 


Brainerd S. Van Meter 


George G. Swilkey 


Morales C. Vendig 


Walter L. Swope 


Harry J. Vogt 


Walter B. Sylvester 


Frederick Von Goerres 


Henry M. Taggart 


Charles C. Wagner 


Joseph S. Tatnall 


Fred Wagner 


Henry W. Taylor 


Frederick R. Wagner 


•wWaid J. Taylor 


Horace Wagner 


William C. Terhune 


Paul H. Wagner 


William J. Terneson 


Francis E. Wakefield 


Leo F. Tete 


Clarence J. Waldo 


Gaston J. Theriot 


Harry Walker 


Nelson Thomas 


John Walker 


Peter Thomas, Jr. 


John I. Walker 


William H. Thomas 


Leopold C. Walkup 


Bernard E. Thompson 


Oscar B. Wallace 


Leslie E. Thompson 


William R. Wallace 


Lyell E. Thompson 


Edward B. Walsh 



294 



APPENDIX 



James V. Walsh 


Charles C. Wilson 


■fr Thomas C. Walsh 


Coffin C. Wilson, Jr. 


Anthony J. Walters 


Edwin R. Wilson 


John C. Walthour 


Edward R. Wilson 


Donald E. Walton 


George W. Wilson, Jr. 


Ray B. Wandel 


Guy McK. Wilson 


Everett W. Wanner 


Thomas M. Wilson 


Norman H. Wanner 


Willard S. Wilson 


William Ward 


Thomas H. Winston 


George E. Warfel 


William C. Winter 


Thomas J. Waring 


Charles W. Wise 


Clarence S. Warner 


Rudolph 0. Woidill 


Allen D. Wassall 


Donald C. Wolfe 


Edward A. Waters, Jr. 


Reginald D. Wollmuth 


Edward Watson 


George D. Woodward 


Walter A. Watson 


Thomas Worrall 


William P. Wattles 


Charles S. Worrell 


Harry G. Weart 


Frank Wright 


Ralph V. Weaver 


George R. Wright 


Clifford T. Weihman 


Robert Wright 


David W. Weir 


Robert J. Wright 


Albert H. Wells 


Elizabeth R. Wunderle 


Joseph A. Welsh 


Luther C. Wurster 


Lester H. Wertheimer 


Raymond T. Wyckoff 


Frank B. Westfall 


Peter C. Wynkoop 


George A. Weston 




Charles N. Weyl 


John H. Yearick 


Samuel T. White 


Norman H. Yeatts 


Semon H. Whitlock 


Clarence E. Yeckel 


Charles W. Whittington 


Joseph W. Yinger 


George F. Wieland 


Paul R. Yocom 


Henry L. Wigham 


George E. Yocum 


William T. Wilfong 


William H. Yost 


Raymond W. Wilkinson 


Harry C. Young 


William J. Willenbecker 


Philip J. Young, Jr. 


Edgar G. Willey 


Thomas J. Young 


Arthur McF. Williams 




David A. Williams 


Alan S. Zane 


Ernest S. Williams 


Wesley W. Zeh 


Frederick W. Williams 


Clifford H. Zellers 


James S. Williams 


Melvin R. Zerbe 


Lincoln H. Williams, Jr. 


Russell Zimmerman 


Melvin 0. Williams 


Clarence F. Zug 


Miller Williams 


John H. Zundell 



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^MAY 89 

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